Prior to the use of the duration of action of hypnotic drugs as a basis of classification2 it was recognized that the barbiturates differed in this respect. V0gt3 spoke of some as slow in induction of action and long in duration, others as rapid in action with quick recovery. and still others as permitting a very rapid recovery. It was only after the publication of the method of Fitch and Tatum, however, that this classification of the barbiturates was put on a sound ...
