418 CARBOLIC ACID 



made with one of phenol, four of castor oil, and twelve of 

 almond oil, is used for oiling catheters and instruments after 

 they have been disinfected. Aseptic Chinese twist for sutures, 

 is prepared for use by stretching the twist, boiling for ten 

 minutes, rewinding on a glass slide, and preserving in 5 

 per cent, carbolic solution. Carbolised tow contains tar, 

 and 5 per cent, of phenol. Absorbent carbolised wool 

 contains 5 per cent., and carbolised lint and gauze 5 to 10 

 per cent., of phenol. Carbo-sapol consists of fifty parts 

 carbolic acid, twenty-five parts yellow hard soap, and 

 twenty-five parts soft soap. The ingredients are heated 

 together on a water bath until a clear solution is obtained. 

 It readily mixes with water, and a one per cent, solution 

 does not attack the hands. Its antiseptic power is nearly 

 equal to that of corrosive sublimate (Coblentz). Phenyform, 

 a condensation product of phenol and formaldehyde, is a 

 white, tasteless, and odourless powder, insoluble in water, 

 ether, chloroform, and oils, soluble in alcohol, acetone, and 

 alkalies. It is a good antiseptic for wounds, and a cheap 

 substitute for iodoform. 



Sulpho-earbolie or sulpho-phenie acid (H.C 6 H 4 O.HS0 3 ) is 

 prepared by the action of sulphuric acid on warm phenol. 

 It crystallises slowly, and forms colourless, deliquescent 

 needles, having less odour than carbolic acid ; at 400 Fahr. 

 it becomes red ; at 540 Fahr. it boils. It is antiseptic and 

 disinfectant, and soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and 

 glycerin. With the oxides or carbonates of the alkalies, 

 earths, or metals, it forms crystalline, soluble, almost 

 odourless, usually colourless, sulpho-carbolates, which do 

 not give any evidence of the actions of carbolic acid. The 

 sodium salt may be used as either a surgical or medical 

 antiseptic. The iron, zinc, and copper salts exhibit the 

 actions of their bases. These sulpho-carbolates are excreted 

 by the kidneys in great part unaltered ; they probably do 

 not readily give up their carbolic acid in the body, and 

 certainly have not fulfilled the expectations formed of them 

 when they were introduced as antiseptics. Sulpho-carbolic 

 acid is stated to form 33 J per cent, of aseptol, an antiseptic 

 which is soluble but inactive in glycerin, alcohol, or oil. 

 An aqueous solution of 3, 5, or 10 per cent, is used as a 



