308  Creasote  and  Carbolic  Acid.  {Amjin"i8P7h7?rm' 
rite  of  sodium,  which  Prof.  Jacquemin  (1875)  regarded  as  character- 
istic for  carbolic  acid. 
Carbolic  acid  produces  with  bromine  water  a  dense  white  precipitate 
of  tribromphenol ;  a  similar  but  orange-colored  compound  is  formed 
with  creasote. 
The  "British  Pharmacopoeia"  mentions  among  the  qualities  of  cre- 
asote, also  :  UA  slip  of  deal  dipped  into  creasote,  and  afterwards  into 
hydrochloric  acid,  acquires,  on  exposure  for  a  short  time  to  the  air,  a 
greenish-blue  color." 
But  this  coloration  of  pinewood  is  obtained,  not  only  with  creasote,. 
but  also  with  carbolic  acid  and  muriatic  acid,  and  is,  according  to  Tie- 
mann  and  Haarmann,  a  characteristic  reaction  of  coniferin. 
From  the  above  may  be  seen  that  the  different  reactions  suggested 
for  creasote  and  carbolic  acid  can  only  be  relied  on  if  each  product  is  in 
a  chemically  pure  condition,  but  that  it  is  difficult  to  prove  adultera- 
tions of  creasote  with  carbolic  acid  if  the  addition  is  made  in  a  propor- 
tion not  exceeding  15  or  20  per  cent. 
The  above  reactions  have  already  shown  that  Morson's  creasote 
widely  differs  from  beechwood-tar  creasote,  a  fact  which  was  confirmed 
by  the  further  investigations.  After  treating  it  with  caustic  lye,  an 
intense  odor  of  a  fine  quality  of  oil  of  turpentine  appeared,  to  which, 
the  pleasant  odor  of  English  creasote  is  due. 
The  high  boiling  point  of  214  to  2390  C.  leads  to  the  suspicion  that 
it  contains,  also,  other  oils,  which,  however,  are  very  difficult  to  sep- 
arate. 
The  author  has  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  pinewood-tar  a 
product  exactly  like  Morson's  creasote,  and  this  seems  to  be  its  true 
source.  While  the  purification  of  beechwood-tar  creasote  is  connected, 
with  great  difficulties,  the  preparation  of  such  a  mixed  body  as  pine- 
wood-tar creasote  is  very  easy. 
But  this  is  lacking  the  principal  constituent  of  beechwood-tar  cre- 
asote— guaiacol,  and,  considering  the  great  quantity  of  foreign  substances 
in  Morson's  creasote  which  have  not  been  investigated,  its  physiologi- 
cal and  medicinal  qualities  cannot  be  equal  to  beechwood-tar  creasote. 
The  medicinal  qualities  of  pinewood-tar  creasote,  on  account  of  its- 
impure  condition,  might  often  have  just  the  opposite  effect  of  what  we 
are  entitled  to  expect  from  beechwood-tar  creasote,  and  it  should  be 
rejected,  therefore,  as  unfit  for  pharmaceutical  purposes. 
