Carbolic Acid

So rauch is aaid about carbolic acid, and it i now so largely used in medicine and the arts, that more information ought to bo popular] y disseininated in refereneo to it. It is not a new thing, but must of its applications are of a new dato ; and as nearly evory porson who has taken out a patent has given it a now name, we arp oi'ten perplexed to recognize the precise artiolo that is mcant. It niay be well to look into this labyrinth of names before proceeding to a description of the article itself. Carbolic acid was diseovered by Runge in wood tar in 183-1, and was so oolled ly him. It is a pity that other chomists havo not adhered to the original name, as we should thus have been saved nnich confusión. Sis years after Kungo's orlg nal discovery, a French eliemist named Laurent mado soine of tho pure acid, and proposed to cali it Phenylhydrate, from the Greek word meaning to illuminate, becauso it was supposed to be a constituent of illumniating gas ; and still later, sueh names as phenylic acid, phenol, phenyl alcohol, coal tar creosote, coal oil acid, pheuylous acid, and sundry othors were proposed. All of thom ought to be dropped. and the original name of carbolic acid retained. It is veally and truly an acid, capable of combiniiig with basos to fonu salts, but is not strong enough to drive vat inuny othcr ucids from thoir eompour.ds. Carbolic rujid has beeu ready formed in the bile and urine of various animáis, and is the product of the dry dibtillation of vegetable mattor ; and can bc mado by conducting the vapor of acetic ecid or alcohol through a red hot tube. For techniual purposes it is almost all mado of coal tar, and as its boiling point is botweon 300 and 363 Fahrtmhoit, it is from the doad oil that the greater portion is obtained. The details of the manufacture of carbolic acid may be consultud in works on chemistry, but its properties and uses may woll occupy our attention for a fow psu-agraphs. Whoii pure, it consista of long needies of a peculiar, smoky odor and caustic burning tasto; its specific pravity is LOGO, and it fusos at about 98 Éahrenheit. It absorbe! luoisture from the air, and runs to water, and it roquires twenty timos its wuiglit of water to dissolve it. Alcohol and ether dissolvu it in all proportions, and acetic acid is a bettr solvent than water. Conceiitrated solutions act powcrfully en tho skin, turning it white and aftnrward red brown, and tho spots afterwaul peel off. Golatin and albumen aro precipitatod by it, and this property has suggested its use in tanning. It is a dangerous poison ; a few drops will kill a dog, and plants aro at once destroyed by a woak aquoous solution. Itimge recornmended carbolic acid for embalming bodies, and as a disinfoctant, and tried many experiincnts to show its viilue for this purpose ; but little attention was bostowed upon his assertions, and it ia only recently that the substance bas had proper reeognition from medical itnd othor authoritie.s. Extensive uso is now made of carbolic acid to destroy the odor of stables ; a carbolato of lime is prepared and sold for this purpose. As an insect extermimitor few agents can be compared with carbolic acid, and it is naturally appliod by physicians for such cutaneous diseases as are caused by insect life. Several cases of death have been reportod in consequence of an incautious use for this purpose. Threc women who bathed theinselves with a sponge with carbolic acid, to cure the itof), were immediatoly attacked with dizziness, and soon became unconscious. ïwo of them subsequently died, and the life of tho other was sa ved with difficulty. When naed as a wash for men and the lower animáis, it must bo takun very weak, and in small quantities at a timo. Dogs have been sadly tortured by it, in the vain hope of killing fleas. The odor of carbolic acid is sometimos disguised by mixing it with camphor, when it is required to keep moths out of furs, and clothing. No doubt the preservative property of coal tar is largcly due to tho presenoe of this powerful agent. All manncr of soaps, ointinent and even troches, are made with carbolic acid, whioh must bo used with caution, ag the poisonous charaoter of the acid suggest at once that it ought not to be tampered with. A new application of carbolic acid is proposcd nearly ovory wuek, and it has buoome one of the most important of our ckeiuical