Chemically, chloroform is employed as a solvent for fats, alkaloids,
iodine and other substances The major use of chloroform today is in
the production of the freon refrigerant R-22 It was once used as a
general anaesthetic in surgery but has been replaced by less toxic,
safer anaesthetics, such as ether As might be expected from its use as
an anaesthetic, inhaling chloroform vapours depresses the central
nervous system