CREASOTE

n. Kre'a2s-ot. Lat., creasotum. [U. S. Ph., Br. Ph.] (from /cpe'as. flesh, and <rtaeiv, to preserve), kreosotum [Ger. Ph., Aust. Ph., Hung. Ph., Swi Ph., Belg. Ph., Netherl. Ph., Dan. Ph., Ru . Ph., Greek Ph.]. Fr., creosote du goudron de bois. Ger.. Kreosot. It., creosoto. Sp., creosota [Sp. Ph.]. A substance obtained by the distillation of wood-tar, consisting chiefly of a mixture of cresol, oxycresol, methyl cresol, and phlorone. It is a highly refractive, oily liquid, having, when freshly prepared, a yellowish tinge which changes to red or brown on exposure to the light. It has a peculiar, sharp, empyreumatic odor and a burning taste, and produces a white stain on coming into contact with the skin. It has a sp. gr. of from rO-35 to 1'085, boils at nearly 200 C., and is inflammable. It is soluble in 80 parts of cold water and readily soluble in absolute alcohol, in ether, and in chloroform. It has marked antiseptic properties. It is used in medicine for its local action as a paralyzant of nerve ti ue. Given in small doses, it acts as a sedative, but in overdoses it is a violent poison, producing nausea, headache, convulsions, and coma. It has been administered with advantage in cases of obstinate vomiting, cholera morbus, cholera infantum, lienteric diarrho3a, and typhoid fever, and is of special value in gastric diseases attended with fermentation. Externally it is applied as a stimulant styptic and in the treatment of decayed teeth. It has been found useful in skin diseases of a scaly nature and in the treatment of foul ulcers or inflamed ti ues that give E, he; E2, ell; G, go; I, die; I2, in; N, in; N, tank; [s. 438]