NOTE  ON  CARBOLIC  ACID,  ETC. 
355 
cheap  animal  or  fish  oil,  or  petroleum,  or  tar  oils,  but  not  with 
drying  oils,  such  as  linseed  oiL  When  mixed  with  any  cheap 
oil  in  proportions  varying,  to  suit  the  purposes,  between  10  and 
25  per  cent,  of  the  good  creasote,  it  is  applicable  to  more  nume- 
rous uses.  Smeared  upon  wood-work  or  other  absorbent  sur- 
faces, or  even  upon  the  coats  of  animals,  it  is  much  more  lasting, 
as  well  as  stronger  in  effect  than  the  solutions,  and  saves  much 
time  and  labor  where  it  is  important  to  economize  these.*  This 
is  the  form  in  which  it  is  best  applied  to  the  live-stock  cars  and 
pens  of  railroads,  and  it  is  also  a  collateral  advantage  of  this  form 
of  applying  it  that  the  oil  so  fixes  it  and  holds  it  upon  rough  ab- 
sorbent surfaces,  that  the  filth  which  lodges  and  accumulates 
upon  the  surfaces  to  which  it  has  be^n  applied  will  be  disinfected 
by  it,  and  may  be  washed  off  two  or  three  times  with  water,  and 
the  surfaces  still  retain  effective  quantities  of  the  oily  mixture. 
Wood  or  plastered  walls  can  be  so  saturated  with  such  mixtures 
as  to  last  for  a  long  time,  but  the  effective  influence  of  the  agent 
is  given  off  much  more  sloAvly,  and  is  more  feeble  than  when,  in 
the  case  of  watery  solutions,  the  vapor  of  the  vehicle  passes  off 
and  carries  the  agent  along  with  it  into  the  air.  This  affords 
the  plain  indication  for  a  rule  that  where  surfaces  and  solid  sub- 
stances are  to  be  disinfected  through  constant  use,  and  through 
rains  and  ablutions,  oily  mixtures  are  best.  Where  the  air  is  to< 
be  disinfected  or  charged  with  the  creasote,  and  where  frequent 
aspersions  can  be  conveniently  used,  watery  solutions  are  best. 
Any  inert  powder  which  may  serve  as  a  vehicle  can  be  used 
for  mixing  and  holding  this  liquid  for  disinfectant  uses.  Half 
slaked  lime  perhaps  forms  the  best  powder  in  which  to  mix  it, 
and  a  proportion  of  10  to  20  per  cent,  is  a  good  one.  These 
mixtures  are  often  called  carbolate  of  lime.  Saw-dust  or  sand 
make  excellent  vehicles  for  it ;  and  sand,  moistened  with  the 
creasote  and  swept  over  the  floors  of  hospital  ward^  once  or 
twice  a  day,  is  a  very  efficient  way  of  using  it. 
*  A  friend  of  the  writer,  Mr.  Ferris  Bringhurst,  of  Wilmington,  Del., 
mentions  that  such  a  mixture  smeared  upon  the  shaggy  coat  of  a  dog  to 
dislodge  fleas  is  so  remarkably  permanent  that  after«an  inte^rval  of  many 
months  the  odor  of  the  phenols  becomes  distinct  every  time  the  dog  gets 
wet.  This  also  illustrates  the  power  of  watery  vapor  for  carrying  these 
substances  into  the  atmosphere. 
