Creasote

Creasote (Gr. kreas, 'flesh;' sōzō, 'I preserve') is an oily substance obtained from the tar produced by the destructive distillation of wood. When Coal-tar (q.v.) is distilled, a certain portion called creasote oils passes over, and from this much of the creasote of commerce is obtained. This, although similar in some respects to wood creasote, is quite distinct chemically. The coal product consists largely of carbolic acid, along with creosol and xylene, while the wood product, to which alone the name creasote rightly belongs, consists of guaiacol, creosol, and picrotol. As it contains several substances, so its boiling-point ranges from 392° to 428° (200°-220° C.). The leading character of wood creasote is that it instantly coagulates albumen, but does not coagulate Collodion (q.v.), in this respect differing from carbolic acid. It has a very remarkable power of arresting the decay of meat or wood, and when meat is treated with so small a proportion as one-hundredth of its weight of creasote, and exposed to the air, it does not putrefy, but becomes hard and dry, assuming the taste and odour of smoked meat. Indeed, there can be no doubt that hams cured by means of wood smoke owe their preservation and flavour to some extent to the volatile creasote in the smoke. Railway sleepers and wood liable to be frequently wet are often saturated with the coal-tar creasote; or, where economy is not so essential, with the wood creasote, and are thereby preserved indefinitely. In toothache, where the cause of pain is a carious tooth with an exposed, inflamed nerve, a drop of creasote, carefully inserted, after previously cleansing the cavity, will often give relief. In this case it acts by coagulating the albumen and destroying the nerves. Creasote acts powerfully on the skin, producing a white stain when applied to it. A few drops added to a pint of ink preserve it from mouldiness. Medicinally, it is given in doses of one or two drops, and has been found efficacious where there is a tendency to fermentation of the contents of the stomach and bowels. Owing to its action on the skin it acts as an energetic poison when taken in large doses.—The Creasote Plant (Lorrea mexicana), growing abundantly on the borders of the Colorado Desert, emits a strong odour of creasote. The odour arises from an exudation similar to Indian gum-lac, and is caused by the punctures of an insect, Carteria Lorrea.