Chloral hydrate is really not very toxic at all, but it is something of a
gastric irritant so it can make you vomit if you take too much. Like all
hypnotics it can be addictive, although in the UK it is still (if not very
often) used in solution in hospital paediatric practice because it is so
safe and I have used it in special care baby units. It is not a controlled
drug here, and is sold as a laboratory reagent and pharmaceutical
ingredient, but it can be difficult to obtain for amateurs.
I have used the gum chloral recipe in Smith's flora which works well but
does dessicate and distort delicate material and I agree that after a time
the detail becomes faint as contrast is lost. I have a good collection of
Fossombronia spores preserved in this way, although I seal the edges with
nail varnish because the mountant tends to dry out and shrink.
best wishes
Jonathan Sleath
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