Creosote

“ Creosote, like carbolic acid, is a powerful antiseptic, and readily coagulates albuminous matter; wood-smoke and pyroligneous acid or wood-vinegar owe to its presence their efficacy in preserving animal and vegetable substances from putrefaction.
Creosote oil is the name generally applied to the fraction of the coal tar distillate which boils between 200° and 300° C. (see Coal Tar) . It is a greenish-yellow fluorescent liquid, usually containing phenol, cresol, naphthalene, anthracene, pyridine, quinoline, acridine and other substances. Its chief use is for the preservation of timber. ”

“ Creosotal.—Light-brown, odorl., sl. bitter liq.—Sol. in oils (5 parts cod-liver oil) , alcohol, ether; insol. in water.—Antitubercular.—Dose: 20 min., grad. increased to 80 min., 3 t. per day.
Creosote from Beechwood, Merck.—U.S.P.
Dose: 1—3 ♏, gradually increased to limit of tolerance, in pills, capsules, or with wine or brandy.—Max. Initial D.: 5 ♏ single; 15 ♏ daily.—Antidotes: Emetics, stomach pump, soluble sulphates (such as Glauber or Epsom salt) .—Caution: Wherever Creosote is indicated for internal medication, Creosote from Beechwood should be dispensed ”

“ Phenol dissolves, and forms a clear mixture. Were any phenol present in the wood creosote, the increase in the volume of the glycerine solution, if in a graduated tube, would distinctly indicate the percentage of phenol present.
4. Solubility in benzine. Wood creosote entirely soluble. Phenol is insoluble.
5. A 1 per cent, solution of wood creosote. Take of this 10 cubic centimeters, add 1 drop of a test solution of ferric chloride; an evanescent blue color is formed, passing quickly into a red color. Phenol gives a permanent blue color. ”

“ We obtain carbolic acid from the coal tar largely produced in the manufacture of gas. Both wood tar, well known under the name of creosote, and coal tar are powerful antiseptics. It is easy to understand by what means meat and fish are preserved from decomposition when they have been kept in the smoke of a wood fire. The smoke contains creosote in the form of vapor, and the same effect is produced on the meat or fish by the smoke as if they had been dipped in a solution of tar--with this difference, that they are dried by the smoke, whereas moisture favors decomposition very greatly. ”

“ The Tilden Company declares that “Firwein stands without a peer in its class.” But the company adds 10 drops of eucalyptol and some cottonseed oil to this peerless product and an improvement is born—“Firolyptol”! Then, to perfect the already perfectly perfected, 10 drops of creosote are added to “Firolyptol” and the profession is offered “Firolyptol with Kreosote”! In just what verbal pyrotechnics the Tilden Company might indulge, should it decide to add ten drops of something else to “Firolyptol with Kreosote,” one shudders to contemplate. ”

“ Tannic and Gallic Acids diminish secretions generally; they are very useful in cases of hæmaturia, where Sulphuric Acid is all but useless.
Creosote is a Sedative, and cannot be well given in such large doses as to act upon distant parts. In cases of hæmatemesis it acts topically on the surface of the stomach in a double way, diminishing the hæmorrhage by its astringent power over the vessels, and quieting the nervous irritation by which the vascular excitement is often maintained. In cancerous cases the bleeding can never be permanently stopped. ”

“ It is recommended as a substitute for creosote for internal exhibition in tuberculosis, pneumonia, and as an intestinal antiseptic. Dosage.—From 0·3 to 2·0 grammes (5 to 30 grains) for children, to 1 to 4 grammes (15 to 60 grains) for adults in milk, coffee, wine, cod-liver oil or emulsion. Externally it may be applied undiluted. Manufactured by Farbenfabriken, vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co., Elberfeld, Germany (Continental Color & Chemical Co., New York) . ”

“ Creosote, advised of late, for the preservation of the nerves and brain, is too costly, but, as we have not made use of it, we cannot describe its mode of action upon the tissues.
Sea-salt, employed alone and in solution, has a mode of action for a long time known, and its inefficiency cannot be disputed; we do not speak however, of saltings, because this method cannot answer for the preservation of bodies for dissection; or for preserving animals from putrefaction, that they may be subsequently dissected, or be placed in zoological collections. ”

“ The majority of our patients receive no medication whatsoever. The stomach is rarely in condition to bear excessive medication, and the promiscuous use of creosote and similar preparations is to be condemned. ”

“ The great objection to the use of petroleum is its inflammability. Creosote, its great rival for wood preserving, is also inflammable, and not so agreeable in colour; but it is considerably cheaper, which is an important matter. ”

“ Nothing must be coloured with water colours or gums, as some writers contend, or mould will inevitably follow. A few drops of creosote, or the black carbolic acid of commerce, poured into the case or shade just before closing up, is a very good thing to prevent mildew, though if everything is thoroughly dried, and only oil colours are used, no danger from this cause need be apprehended. ”

“ These vary to a considerable extent. They always stipulate (1) a certain specific gravity (e.g. not below 1.035 and not above 1.065) ; (2) certain limits of boiling points (e.g. to yield at most 3% up to 150°, at most 30% between 150° and 255°, and at least 85% between 150° and 355°) ; (3) a certain percentage of phenols, as shown by extraction with caustic soda solution, say 8 to 10%.
Much of this creosote oil is obtained by mixing that which has resulted in the direct distillation of the tar with the liquid portion of the anthracene oils after separating the crude anthracene (see below) . ”

“ John Bethell himself, is thick, and rich in naphthaline. Some English chemists now seem to prefer the thinnest oil, which contains no naphthaline, but a little more carbolic acid; the crude carbolic acid would vary from 5 to 15 per cent.: no engineer has ever required more than 5 per cent. of crude carbolic acid in creosote. The thinner oil appears to be more likely to be drawn out of the wood by the heat of the sun or absorption in powdery soil, and is more readily dissolved out by moisture. ”

“ Colorless or yellowish solid or liquid, with an aromatic odor and a strong phenolic taste. Soluble in water (1:53) , freely soluble in glycerin (1:0.8) and miscible with alcohol, chloroform or ether.
Action and Uses: Used as intestinal antiseptic and bronchial stimulant, similar to creosote; less irritant but also less active. Inunction with 50 per cent. solution in oil is antipyretic but it is less powerful and more uncertain than acetphenetidin, etc. Action is difficult to control and collapse may occur. ”

“ Boil the whole again in a covered vessel, and stir the fluid well to effect the complete solution and admixture of the gum arabic. Stir it occasionally while it is cooling; and after it has remained undisturbed for two or three hours, that the excess of indigo and lamp- black may subside, bottle it for use. The above ink for documentary purposes is invaluable, being under all ordinary circumstances, indestructible. It is also particularly well adapted for the use of the laboratory. Five drops of creosote added to a pint of ordinary ink will effectually prevent its becoming mouldy. ”

“ Carbolic acid may be confounded with cresol or with creasote, but the distinction between pure carbolic acid, pure cresol, and creasote is plain.
§ 232. Cresol (Cresylic Acid, Methyl-phenol) , —There [179] are three cresols—ortho-, meta-, and para-. Ordinary commercial cresol is a mixture of the three, but contains but little ortho-cresol; the more important properties of the pure cresols are set out in the following table:—
Pure ortho-, meta-, or para-cresol have been obtained by synthetical methods ”

“ The dose of creasote carbonate (creosotal) , which is free from the unpleasant odor and taste of pure creasote, is from 5 to 20 minims (0.3-1.2 c.c.) .
Croton Oil (Oleum Tiglii) .—This is an oil expressed from the seed of a small tree growing in Asia. Locally it is an active vesicant; internally it is a powerful purgative. Large doses cause severe inflammation of the stomach and bowels. The dose is from 1 to 2 drops (0.06-0.12 c.c.) in glycerin, olive oil, or bread-crumbs. A bland vehicle is necessary to prevent the vesicating effect of the drug on the throat. ”

“ Commercial cresol is at ordinary temperatures a liquid, and cannot be obtained in a crystalline state by freezing. Its boiling-point is from 198° to 203°; it is almost insoluble in strong ammonia, and, when 16 volumes are added, it then forms crystalline scales. On the other hand, carbolic acid is soluble in an equal volume of ammonia, and is then precipitated by the addition of 11⁄2 volume of water. Cresol is insoluble in small quantities of pure 6 per cent. soda solution; with a large excess, it forms crystalline scales ”

“ But in recent years the designation cresylic acid has been applied to all sorts of mixtures of tar acids boiling above 190° C. Practically every maker of synthetic resins, antiseptics, and disinfectants has his own specifications for cresylic acid; it may be any mixture in almost any proportions of the three cresols, the six isomeric xylenols, and the higher boiling tar acids. Imports of crude cresylic acid are understood to be largely xylenol mixtures containing low percentages of the cresols. ”

“ Cold petroleum spirit dissolves cresol, but no crystalline scales can be separated out by a freezing mixture. Carbolic acid, on the contrary, is but sparingly soluble in cold petroleum, and a solution of carbolic acid in hot petroleum, when exposed to sudden cold produced by a freezing mixture, separates out crystals from the upper layer of liquid. Cresol is miscible with glycerin of specific gravity 1·258 in all proportions; 1 measure of glycerin mixed with 1 measure of cresol is completely precipitated by 1 measure of water. ”

“ Kreasote is “devoid of colour, has a peculiar odour, and is soluble in acetic acid. When it is dropped on bibulous paper, and a boiling heat is applied for a short time, it entirely escapes, leaving no transparent stain.” (Ph. L.) “Entirely and easily soluble in its own weight of acetic acid.” (Ph. E.) Sp. gr. 1·046 (Ph. L.) , 1·066 (Ph. E. & D.) . The density and boiling point of absolutely pure kreasote is given above. When prescribed in pills with oxide of silver, the mass will take fire unless the oxide be first mixed with liquorice or other powder. ”

“ It crystallizes in prisms which melt at 36° C. and boil at 201°.8 C. It is soluble in water, and the aqueous solution gives a blue coloration with ferric chloride. When treated with hydrochloric acid and potassium chlorate, no chlorinated quinones are obtained (M. S. Southworth, Ann. (1873) , 168, p. 271) , a behaviour which distinguishes it from ortho- and meta-cresol.
On the composition of commercial cresylic acid see A. H. Allen, Jour. Soc. Chem. Industry (1890) , 9, p. ”

“ The true chrysolite of the modern mineralogist is a magnesium silicate, referable to the species olivine. It is appropriate to call the lighter coloured stones inclining to yellow chrysolite, and the darker green stones peridot. Certain kinds of topaz, from the Schneckenstein in Saxony, are known as Saxon chrysolite; while moldavite, a substance much like a green obsidian, is sometimes called water chrysolite or pseudo-chrysolite. ”

“ It is described by Dioscorides and Pliny to be coloris herbæ segetis læte virentis, and porracei coloris; which is exactly what the Greeks called πράσινος. And Disscorides, in another Place, says, the best Chrysocolla was that which was κατακόρως πρασίζουσαν, satiatè porraceum. The Chrysocolla of the Antients was therefore very different from that of the Moderns: and was what, in a purer State, and larger Size, might in those Times very naturally be, and really was, accounted a Species of the Emerald. ”

“ Chrysostom had always been an ascetic liver, but he had not a robust frame, and he had been accustomed to wholesome food and the frequent use of the bath. Continuous travelling by night as well as day, the scorching sun, hot dust, hard bread, brackish water, and deprivation of the bath, threw him into a fever; but either from fear of the Isaurians, or of Leontius, bishop of Ancyra, in Galatia, one of his most virulent enemies, the journey was pursued without intermission till he arrived, more dead than alive, at Cæsarea, in Cappadocia. ”

“ The name of Chrysostom, ‘Golden-mouthed,’ was assigned to him after his death to express the eloquence which he possessed in so much greater a degree than the other fathers of the Church. He never repeats himself, and is always original. The vivacity and power of his imagination, the force of his logic, his power of arousing the passions, the beauty and accuracy of his comparisons, the neatness and purity of his style, his clearness and sublimity, place him on a level with the most celebrated Greek authors. ”

“ It dissolves in ether, alcohol, or benzol; though scarcely soluble in water, it is nevertheless extracted from the root to some extent by that solvent, probably by reason of some accompanying substance. Alkalis dissolve it, forming fine dark red solutions. Chrysophan, C15H10O4, is a derivative of anthracene, C14H10, and closely allied to alizarin, C14H8O4.
By precipitating alcoholic solutions of extract of rhubarb with ether, Schlossberger and Döpping obtained, together with chrysophan, resinous bodies which they named Aporetin, Phæoretin and Erythroretin. ”