UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
m BULLETIN No. 1036 
Contribution from the Forest Service 
WILLIAM B. GREELEY, Forester 
Washington, D. C. 
October 20. 1922 
COAL-TAR AND WATER-GAS TAR CREOSOTES: THEIR PROP- 
ERTIES AND METHODS OF TESTING. 
By Ernest Bateman, Chemist in Forest Products. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Part I. Tars and the production of creosotes 
from tars 
Chapter I. Introduction and definitions 
Chapter II. Composition of tars and 
methods of manufacture 
Chapter III. Production of creosote from 
tars 
Part II. Experimental comparison of au- 
thentic specimens of creosote 
Chapter I . Collecting and testing the 
specimens of creosote 
Chapter II. Determining certain condi- 
tions for the tests 
Chapter III. Results of the tests 
Chapter IV . Comparison of the properties 
of authentic coal-tar creosotes with 
those of authentic water-gas tar creo- 
sotes 
Part III. Properties of creosotes 
Chapter I. Composition and chemical 
properties of coal-tar creosote 
23 
47 
Part III— Continued. ] 
Chapter II. Physical properties of coal- 
tar creosotes 
Chapter III. Toxic properties of coal-tar 
creosotes 
Chapter IV. Composition and properties 
of water-gas tar creosotes 
Chapter V. Comparison of the properties 
of commercial coal-tar creosotes and 
commercial water-gas tar creosotes 
Chapter VI. Tar-creosote solutions 
Chapter VII. A theory of the mechanism 
of the protection of wood by oil solu- 
tions 
Part IV. Methods of testing creosotes and 
official specifications for creosote 
Chapter I. Practical methods of testing 
creosotes 
Chapter II. Specifications nowin force by 
various associations 
Appendix 106 
Bibliography 112 
:,n 
66 
s-1 
S7 
87 
103 
FOREWORD. 
Creosote as a preservative is widely used in this and certain other 
countries, and a considerable number of articles have been published 
from time to time on its chemical, physical, and toxic properties. 
Most of these articles appeared in various technical periodicals, in the 
proceedings of a number of societies, or in the form of Government 
bulletins. It is believed that the presentation of the substance of 
these articles in compact form will be serviceable to those interested 
in the use of creosote for preserving wood. In addition to giving such 
a summary, this bulletin also makes available the hitherto unpub- 
lished results of certain minor investigations and also of an extended 
research conducted at the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, 
Wis., primarily for the purpose of obtaining a broader knowledge of 
75536°— 22- 
