Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  "| 
Nov.  1,  1872.  / 
Note  on  Guaiacol. 
505 
ture  then  rising  to  216°,  at  which  about  34  per  cent,  passes  over* 
then  to  222°,  when  about  34  per  cent,  again  distils,  and  then  rises  to 
231°,  when  16  per  cent,  is  obtained,  the  remainder  distilling  at  a  still 
higher  temperature.  We  thus  find  that  this  is  a  hydrated  product,, 
and  that  its  boiling-point  is  considerably  higher  than  the  proper  boil- 
ing-point of  creasote  as  represented  by  Guaiacol. 
German  creasote  commences  to  boil  at  200°,  gradually  rising  to 
220°,  40  per  cent,  comes  over  under  203°,  34  per  cent,  at  210°,  and 
16  per  cent,  under  220°,  thus  boiling  rather  lower  than  it  should  for 
pure  creasote,  but  apparently  not  containing  much  of  the  higher  ho- 
mologues. 
Carbolic  acid  boils  at  180°,  and,  when  pure,  its  boiling-point  i& 
quite  constant. 
English  creasote  is  insoluble  in  pure  glycerin,  as  stated  by  Mr.. 
Morson,  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  No.  99,  page  921.* 
German  creasote  is  soluble  in  glycerin. 
Carbolic  acid  dissolves  in  glycerin  in  all  proportions. 
As  I  have  before  stated,  guaiacol  is  not  soluble  in  glycerin ;  it, 
therefore  became  of  great  interest  to  find  out,  if  possible,  why  the 
German  creasote  should  be  soluble,  and  thus  differ  from  the  guaiacol 
and  English  creasote,  more  especially  as  I  found  that  the  addition  of 
say  50  per  cent,  of  carbolic  acid  to  either  guaiacol  or  English  creasote 
causes  them  to  be  perfectly  soluble  in  glycerin.  It  thus  becomes  very 
important  that  we  should,  if  possible,  devise  a  mode  of  detecting  the- 
presence  of  carbolic  acid  in  pure  creasote. 
For  this  purpose  recourse  was  had  to  Professor  Fluckiger's  process 
as  described  in  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  No.  103,  page  1008. f  It 
consists  in  adding  creasote  (or  carbolic  acid)  to  a  very  small  quantity 
of  perchloride  of  iron  in  solution,  then  adding  alcohol  and  afterwards 
diluting  considerably  with  water.  If  carbolic  acid  alone  is  employed 
a  beautiful  blue  color  is  produced,  but  if  creasote,  a  dingy  brownish 
liquid  is  the  result.  Now  this  test  distinguishes  between  pure  crea- 
sote and  pure  carbolic  acid  perfectly,  but  when  I  attempted  to  use  it 
as  a  means  of  detecting  the  presence  of  carbolic  acid  in  creasote  it 
quite  failed,  the  brown  creasote  reaction  quite  masking  the  blue  pro- 
duced by  the  carbolic  acid.  I  tried  various  proportions,  and  in  no  in- 
*  Amer.  Joura.  Pharm.,  1872,  310. 
f  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1872,  465. 
