Part IL] Pearson : Antiseptic Treatment of Timber. 
1 
Creosote. 
The most extensively used and probably oldest antiseptic is Creosote 
which, though undeniably effective, is expensive and will remain so in 
India until its preparation is carried out on an extensive scale in the coun¬ 
try. Hauptmann Basilius Malenkovic of the Austrian Royal Engi¬ 
neers, and a great expert on the antiseptic treatment of timber, somewhat 
sarcastically remarks that it is claimed for Creosoting that it is a cheap 
method, as only 100 litres are now required for impregnating one 
cubic metre, whereas formerly 300 litres were required. Somewhat ex¬ 
pensive as the process may be it is used all over Europe and to a consi¬ 
derable extent with the Open Tank method in America, while the only 
treated sleepers used on Indian Railways are of imported Creosoted Red- 
Pine. It is said that the Berlin Rutgerswerke maintain that Creosote is 
the only serviceable method of preserving railway sleepers. This is a 
sweeping statement, and would certainly not be accepted by many 
experts. 
Products of Creosote. 
Tar yields (1) oils lighter than water, (2) oils heavier than water, and 
(3) pitch. The latter oils have been given the name of Creosote, 
though true Creosote is obtained from wood. These heavy oils contain 
Phenol or Tar acids such as Carbolic and Cresylic acid, of which a cer¬ 
tain percentage is most necessary in good antiseptic solutions. They 
also contain Naphthalene, Quinolene, Leucolene, Crysene, Pyrene, Anth¬ 
racene, etc. These Hydro-carbons are the base of many of the antiseptic 
solutions now on the market. Phenol unmixed with other substances 
is not a good antiseptic for the preservation of wood, as it has a low 
boiling point and is therefore liable to evaporate; its value with other 
substances is, however, indisputable, in fact it is one of the most 
essential ingredients for a good antiseptic solution, for it has been 
recognised that it is partly owing to the presence of these acids that 
fungoidal growth is retarded. As above stated, the products of Creosote 
when mixed in various percentages have been given different names, 
amongst which may be mentioned Carbolineum oils ; of these, the well- 
known antiseptic Avenarius Carbolineum , has long been in use. Cre- 
soyle is another patent antiseptic made of these Hydro-carbons, while 
Cresol-Calcium, of recent invention, is a mixture of tar-acids with milk 
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