APPLICATIONS  OF  CARBOLIC  ACID. 
161 
Academy,  pointing  out  that  from  experiments  I  had  made  with 
the  various  substances  existing  in  coal-tar,  it  was  highly  probable 
that  carbolic  acid  was  the  active  agent  of  the  coal-tar  used  by 
MM.  Corne  and  Demaux,  and  that  much  more  certainty  might 
be  expected  if  that  acid  were  substituted  in  their  mixture,  for  the 
composition  of  coal-tar  varies  according  to  the  nature  of  the  coal, 
and  the  temperature  employed  in  its  preparation.  I  also  sug- 
gested that  it  was  probable  that  the  powerful  antiseptic  proper- 
ties of  carbolic  acid  prevented  the  decomposition  of  the  adjacent 
parts,  and  thus  tended  to  restore  the  wounds  to  a  healthy  state, 
and  to  remove  the  cause  of  infection.  Before  quitting  this  part 
of  the  subject,  I  beg  again  to  call  attention  to  a  fact  which  I 
have  already  published  in  one  of  my  papers,  namely,  that  the 
addition  of  two  or  three  drops  of  this  acid  to  a  pint  of  freshly 
made  urine,  will  preserve  it  from  fermentation  or  any  marked 
chemical  change  for  several  weeks. 
I  have  also  applied  it  lately  to  foot  rot,  which  annually  carries 
off  large  numbers  of  sheep,  and  I  have  been  given  to  understand 
that  the  remedies  hitherto  adopted  in  this  disease  have  been  only 
partially  successful.  I  think  that  if  my  experiments  are  further 
confirmed,  it  will  prove  a  great  boon  to  the  farmers  of  this 
country. 
This  acid  has  also  been  applied  by  me  during  the  last  twelve 
months  to  the  preservation  of  gelatine  solutions  and  preparations, 
of  size  made  with  starch,  flour,  and  similar  substances,  and  of 
skins,  hides,  and  other  animal  substances.  In  fact,  its  antiseptic 
powers  are  so  great,  that  it  is  the  most  powerful  preventive  of 
putrefaction  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  It  appears  also  to 
act  strongly  as  an  antiferment,  for  I  have  proved  on  an  exten- 
sive commercial  scale,  that  it  prevents  (as  stated  by  me  in  a  paper 
published  in  1855)  the  conversion  of  tannin  into  gallic  acid  and 
sugar.  It  also  arrests  lactic  fermentation.  I  am  now  engaged 
in  a  series  of  experiments  to  discover  if  that  power  extends  to 
alcoholic,  butyric,  and  acetic  fermentations.  I  hope  also  to  com- 
municate to  you  shortly  the  results  of  my  experiments  on  the  pro- 
tection of  timber  from  dry  rot. — London  Pharm.  Jour.,  Dee. 
1861. 
11 
