456 GERMICIDES — DISINFECTANTS 



* THIOCOL 



Thiocol is potassium ortho-guaiacolsulphonate. It occurs as a 

 white odorless powder of a slightly bitter taste and sweetish after- 

 taste ; soluble in water or syrup, slightly soluble in alcohol, insoluble 

 in ether and oils. It is used as a substitute for guaiacol. 



FIX LIQUIDA 



Synonyms. Tar, Pine Tar 



Tar is an aromatic oleoresin obtained by the destructive distilla- 

 tion of Pinus paliistris. Miller, and other species of pine. It is 

 soluble in alcohol and oils, but almost insoluble in water. Its 

 active ingredients are guaiacols and creosols. When redistilled it 

 separates into a volatile oil and pitch. 



Properties. Tar occurs as a semiliquid, viscid, blackish-brown, 

 noncrystalline, translucent, in thin layers, becoming granular and 

 opaque with age; odor empyreumatic, terebinthinate taste, miscible 

 with alcohol, ether, chloroform, and fixed and volatile oils. 



Preparations and Doses. 



Pix Liquida. H. § ss — } ; 15 — 30. Dog, 1TL xv — ^Ix; 1.- 



Oleum Picis Liquidw Eectificatum, a thick dark reddish- 

 brown volatile oil distilled from tar; of strong empy- 

 reumatic odor and taste. It is soluble in alcohol. Doses. 

 Half those of tar. 



Syrupus Picis Liquidw. Tar 5, alcohol 50, magnesium car- 

 bonate 10, sugar 850. 



Vnguentum Picis Liquidw. Tar 500, yellow wax 150, lard 

 350. 



Actions. Tar resembles guaiacol and creosote in action, it is 

 an antiseptic, local stimulant, parasiticide and expectorant. 



Uses. 1. Shin diseases. Tar is used as a stimulant, parasiti- 

 cide, and antiseptic in various forms of skin disease. It is used as 

 a parasiticide in various forms of mange and as a stimulant in 

 chronic eczema. It should not be used in acute eczema on account 

 of its stimulating action. The general rule for its use in eczema is 

 that the more chronic the case, the more is tar indicated. Even in 

 chronic cases of this disease, its application must be closely watched 

 because many skins will not tolerate it. 



2. Expectorant. Tar and its volatile oil are favorite expec- 

 torants among the laity. They are useful in chronic bronchitis, 

 where they serve the same purpose as their constituents. For repre- 

 sentative prescriptions containing tar, see sulphur, p. 440. 



* UnofiScial. 



