101 
Bingle season oy rot and by the ravages of the Teredo. A. log treated 
with this oil, and driven into salt-water, at Key West, Fla , in October, 
L885, by the United States engineers, in February, L887, was found to 
be nntouched by the Teredo^ although untreated logs were attacked 
by it in six weeks alter they were driven. Similar results were ob- 
tained at about the same time by the United States engineers at Charles- 
ton, S. 0., and at Pensacola, Fla. 
The comparative invulnerabilty to fire possessed by wood that lias 
been treated with this oil has been proved at the burning, in the fall of 
L88C, of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad wharf, at Morehead 
City, X. C, where the creosoted fender-piles remained almost without 
damage by the lire, while the wharf and shed next to them were burned 
down entirely. Live coals and ordinary flames are unable to kindle any 
lire in wood impregnated with this wood-creosote oil. 
The pyroligneous acid produced during- or just before the distillation of 
t he wood-creosote oil is alight-colored, vinegar-like liquid, slightly heavier 
(-1° to 7° iiaume) than water, and also slightly heavier than the wood - 
creosote oil. This pyroligueous acid, in its crude and undiluted state, 
is an excellent and inexpensive disinfectant, immediately arresting pu- 
trefaction and preventing auy further development of the disagreeable 
and unhealthy odors arising therefrom. It is equally if not more effi- 
cacious than carbolic acid, as well as being free from odor, which makes 
that acid so disagreeable (at least to many), and it is nearly or quite 
as efficacious as corrosive sublimate, and is free from the poisonous 
qualities of this chemical. It is an excellent remedy for skin diseases 
in animals; makes good vinegar and alcohol, and is said to preserve 
meats for an indefinite time. As a disinfectant it has been used in large 
quantities and with great success in the streets, stables, privies, etc., of 
Wilmington, N. 0., under direction of the city authorities. 
The charcoal produced by this process is one of fine quality and of 
remarkably even texture, well adapted for use in the smelting of iron, 
as well as for ordinary fuel. When fiuely pulverized (as at the Wilming- 
ton works) it can be advantageously used in the place of lamp-black in 
the manufacture of paints for the preservation of wood, as also for the 
preservation and insolation of metals. 
As will be seen from the above the most important product of the 
distillation of pine wood is the wood-creosote oil, and the most impor- 
tant use (commercially) of this oil is as a preservative of timber and 
lumber. 
The general features of the process of distillation and subsequent 
use of this oil are as follows: 
Ordinary "light wood" (or "fatty pine" wood) is cut up iuto sticks 
of about 4 feet in length, and about five cords of these sticks closely 
packed inside of a large cylindrical iron retort. The doors of this re- 
tort are then closed and hermetically sealed. A fire is theu built in the 
furnace under the retort, and the heat and flames are directed as uni- 
