CARBOLIC ACID AS A DISINFECTANT.

Thames Star, Volume IX, Issue 3001, 27 September 1878, Page 4

CARBOLIC ACID AS A DISINFECTANT.

Mr C. Koberts writes to us:—'"lt is very satisfactory to find a chemist of Professor Wanklyn's position warning the public of the uselessness and danger of using carbolic acid as a disinfectant. Seven years ago, when' the carbolic acid' rage was at its height, I warned the medical profession in the British Medical Journal and the Lancet in a similar manner, and recommended as safe and.efficient substitutes the employment of heat and the fumes of burning sulphur. I have had the satisfaction of seeing these methods largely adopted, especially in public institutions; but to the general-public they are not convenient -of application.' Indeed, the secret of the.popularity.of carbolic acid .is . the ease with which it can be used, the strong smell which hides but does not destroy bad and dangerous smells, and its cheapness. It 'will, I fear, continue to.hold its place in the public estimation until a substitute has been found which can be bottled up and doled out little by little as emergencies arise. Such emergencies are constantly arising in every household at this time of the year when the traps of our drains rapidly dry up, and animal and vegetable substances quickly enter into decomposition. The public,- therefore, will not readily consent to give up their carbolic acid unless provided with a substitute. The next liquid disinfectant we possess— and it is, I am sorry to say, a very imperfect one —is the permanganate of potash, commonly sold under the name of Condy's fluid.. It has the further advantage of not being poisonous and of being easily distinguished from all-other liquids - employed for domestic purposes by its beautiful purple colour. It is, moreover, tasteless and odourless, and one of its best uses is to remove the taint of decomposition from fish and meat in hot weather." f— Times.