888 
POISONING FROM CROTON OIL. 
practical difficulties can be raised, and which there is every reason to believe must secure 
for this material the confidence of those who desire to avail themselves of the special 
advantages which it presents as an explosive agent. 
ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF 
CREASOTE. 
Although the creasote of coal-oil is often employed in. pharmacy as a substitute for 
the creasote of beechwood, it by no means follows that the two products are identical. 
An observation made by M. Rust has led to the discovery of a reaction which permits 
of easily distinguishing between the two creasotes, namely, that creasote from coal forms 
with collodion a kind of jelly, whilst beechwood creasote produces nothing of the 
kind. 
In Germany, a mixture of this sort is frequently employed for toothache, composed of 
equal parts of collodion and creasote: it should be gelatinous. Occasionally the pro¬ 
duct refuses to gelatinize, and this happens in dealing with beechwood creasote; the 
collodion thickens a little without losing fluidity. 
The following are other reactions which serve to assist in characterizing the two 
species of creasote:— 
Beechwood creasote is insoluble in ammonia, and gives with excess of weak potash a 
turbid solution. 
Creasote from coal is insoluble in ammonia in the cold, but dissolves, forming a clear 
solution upon application of heat. It also gives a clear solution with weak liquor 
potassse. 
Lastly, with a neutral solution of perchloride of iron, beechwood creasote, dissolved 
in alcohol, gives a green coloration, whilst an alcoholic solution of the coal-oil is 
coloured brown. With aqueous solutions, on the contrary, creasote does not change 
colour, whilst coal-tar creasote furnishes a blue. 
According to an observation of M. Hlasivvetz, true creasote is found among the pro¬ 
ducts of the distillation of guaiacum resin mixed with a homologue, C 14 Hg0 4 , # which 
has been named guaiacol. It has been remarked by M. Gorup-Besanez that this latter 
body is also contained in ordinary wood-creasote in considerable proportion. It is the 
opinion of several chemists that both these compounds possess the constitution of com¬ 
pound ethers: thus guaiacol is described as oxyphenate of methyl. The empirical for¬ 
mula of creasote is represented as C 16 ,H 10 ,O 4 . 
M. Frisch confirms, in general, the*results obtained by M. Gorup. The creasote upon 
which he operated was a strongly refraeting liquid, of specific gravity of 1-0784. It 
was perfectly soluble in alcohol, ether, bisulphide of carbon, as well as acetic acid. 
With ammonia, which it dissolved slightly, it gave a bluish-green coloration, which 
changed to brown. It dissolved oxalic acid and several alkaloids. With potash it gra¬ 
dually became brown, and, on the addition of ether, developed a blue tint, which disap¬ 
peared on agitation. It boiled steadily at 195° C. f383° F.). With nitric acid it gave 
picric acid ; with hydrochloric acid and chlorate of potash there are formed nacreous 
scales, consisting of chloranile and bichloroquinone. With sulphuric acid and applica¬ 
tion of heat it gave, after neutralization with baryta, a sulphosalt,—the sulphopheni- 
sate of baryta of Laurent,—soluble in alcohol and crystallizable. In the presence of 
bichromate of potash this sulphophenisic acid acquires an agreeable aromatic odour. 
This creasote also answered to the test alluded to above, by giving with perchloride 
of iron in alcoholic solution a green colour.— Journ. cle Pharm. et de Chimie. 
POISONING FROM CROTON OIL. 
Dr. Charles Shoyer relates a case of poisoning by croton oil. He had ordered as an 
embrocation three drachms of croton oil with an ounce of olive oil. By an accident the 
* C = 6. 
