482 
CARBOLIC OR PTIENIC ACID AND ITS PROPERTIES. 
a disinfectant), not only on board her Majesty’s Navy, but in other Government depart¬ 
ments. Although questions of public health are the province of medicine, still permit 
me to say a few words on the medicinal properties of carbolic acid. This question de¬ 
serves to be treated thoroughly, for carbolic acid is susceptible of so many applications 
in this direction; its properties are so marked, so evident, and so remarkable, that they 
cannot be too much published, and it is rendering a service to mankind to make known 
the employment of so valuable a therapeutic agent. 
I wish all who are listening to me were medical men, for I could show, by numerous 
and undeniable facts, the advantage they might derive from carbolic acid, and if my 
testimony was not sufficient to convince you, I would invoke the authority of men justly 
esteemed amongst you. I would recall to you the words of the good and learned 
Gratiolet and those of Dr. Lemaire, showing that carbolic acid is the most powerful ac¬ 
knowledged means of contending with contagious and pestilential diseases, such as 
cholera, typhus fever, smallpox, etc. Maladies of this order are very numerous, but in 
carbolic acid we find one of the most powerful agents for their prevention. Besides its 
antiseptic action, the caustic properties of carbolic acid are found useful; most bene¬ 
ficial effects are obtained from it in the treatment of very dangerous and sometimes 
mortal complaints, such as carbuncle, quinsy, diphtheria, etc., as shown by Dr. Turner, of 
Manchester, and also in less severe affections, such as haemorrhoids, internal and ex¬ 
ternal fistulas, and other similar complaints. But what must be especially mentioned 
is the employment of carbolic acid in preserving in a healthy state certain purulent 
sores, and preventing the repulsive smell which comes from them, a smell which is the 
symptom of a change in the tissues of the flesh, and which often presents the greatest 
danger to the patient. The services which carbolic acid renders to surgery can be 
judged of by reading several most interesting papers lately published in the ‘Lancet’ 
by Mr. Lister, F.R.S., on compound fractures, ulcers, etc. etc., and by visiting the two 
sick-wards of Dr. Maisonneuve, at the Hotel Dieu. Further, I must not overlook the 
valuable application made of it to gangrene, in hospitals, by the eminent Mr. Paget. 
Lastly, it has been used by many of the most eminent medical men with marked success 
in those scourges of humanity, phthisis and syphilis. 
In agriculture our firm has stimulated the employment of the carbolic acid for the 
cure of certain diseases very common to sheep—scab, for example. The method of treat¬ 
ment customary in similar cases was very imperfect as well as dangerous, whilst with 
carbolic acid this malady is cured, and without danger to the animal, by dipping it for 
a minute, often only for some seconds, in water containing a small quantity of carbolic 
acid. For this purpose pure acid would be too expensive, and is not used, nor concen¬ 
trated acid, which ignorant men who have the care of sheep would not know how to 
use; but by the help of soap an emulsion is made. After having shorn the sheep, it is 
dipped in this mixture ; a single immersion in a bath containing -fa of it is sufficient to 
effect a cure. After scab, the foot-rot is one of the worst and most frequent complaints. 
Carbolic acid is also for that an efficacious remedy. For this a mixture is made of the 
acid and an adherent and greasy substance, capable of forming a plaster, which can be 
made to adhere to the animal’s foot for two or three days, preventing the contact of the 
air, allowing time for the application to produce its effect. Bat if the flock be numerous, 
it would take a long time to dress the four feet of each animal one after another; so, to 
make it more easy, a shallow tray is made of stone, a sort of trough; this is filled with 
the medicated mixture, and tt;e sheep are made to pass through it; their feet are thus 
impregnated with the required substance. Permit me also to state that cattle cease to 
be annoyed with flies, etc., if washed with this solution, or a weak solution of carbolic 
acid. 
Manufacturers have not yet availed themselves one tithe of the valuable properties of 
carbolic acid, and in this direction a new field is open to its use; still I may cite a few 
instances. The preservation of wood has been already referred to, and, thanks to its 
use, the great trade in skins and bones from Australia, Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, etc. 
is benefited. Wild animals living there in herds are slaughtered by thousands. For¬ 
merly they came to us in a bad state, half putrid, emitting an insupportable odour, and 
only fit for manure; in this state their price was not more than 150 francs the 1000 
kilogrammes, now, thanks to carbolic acid treatment, they arrive perfectly preserved; 
they can be employed for all the uses to which green or raw bones are usually applied, 
and the value of bones is raised as much as from 250 to 300 francs. Hides also arrive 
