34 
Indian Forest Records. 
[VOL. III. 
that owing to the difficulty o£ distributing the fluid evenly very much 
greater quantities have to be utilized. Now Phenol or carbolic acid 
dissolved in alcohol has but a slight antiseptic action though when 
dissolved in water its action is improved. Impregnation with Tar acids 
alone is not possible, nor can they be used in water solutions, being too 
volatile, not to mention expensive. The inventors therefore considered 
it necessary to try and bind the tar-acids by transforming them into 
salts soluble in water, but still not volatile. They claim to have done 
this by preparing a mixture of Cr6sol and milk of lime, the solution 
being* composed of 15 grs. of burnt lime (90 per cent, to 95 per cent.) 
46 cc. of Cresol containing at least 95 per cent, of tar-acids, and 500 
cc. of water. 
Cost. 
The Company work out the cost of treating a sleeper of 3 cubic feet 
in various countries as follows :— 
Country. 
Old method 
using 3 gallons 
of Creosote. 
Latest method 
using 1 to 2 
gallons of 
Creosote. 
Cresol-Calcium 
salt 1*48 lbs. 
£ 
d. 
£ 
s. 
d. 
£ 
s. 
d. 
England . 
. 
0 
0 
9 
0 
0 
3*6 
0 
0 
1*40 
Sweden 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
4*8 
0 
0 
1*52 
India . 
• 
0 
1 
6 
0 
0 
7*2 
0 
0 
1*82 
Summary. 
The process is based on the assumption that certain tar-acids are 
efficacious in the preservation of timber. It is accepted that these acids 
are beneficial, but they are also volatile, nor is it due so much to these 
tar-acids (not Phenols) that timber is rendered immune to decay as to 
the heavy oils of Creosote, with high boiling points, so that Cr6sol- 
Calcium for Indian work may not prove satisfactory, unless it can be 
shown that the boiling point of the compound Cresol-Calcium is con¬ 
siderably higher than that of Cresol alone. 
( 107 ) 
