CAMPHENOL

Camphenol is made by Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N. J. Under the name of the article on the carton appears the following formula: C₁₀H₁₆O─C₆H₄(CH₃)OH═C₆H₅OH. This formula consists of the chemical formulas for camphor, cresol and phenol, written one after another, and from this one would conclude that Camphenol is a compound of camphor, phenol and cresol in molecular proportions. Examination shows, however, that Camphenol is but a modification of the well-known camphorated phenol (the liquid produced when solid camphor and phenol are triturated together). In Camphenol a part of the phenol, in the camphorated phenol, has been replaced by cresol, and this liquid has been diluted and emulsified with gelatin or some similar substance and perfumed. In other words, this preparation is an emulsion containing relatively small quantities of cresol, phenol and camphor and is another illustration of the attempts of would-be pharmaceutical houses to produce new synthetics in the simplest manner possible—that of writing the chemical formulas of the constituents of a remedy in a way to indicate a chemical combination.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 5, 1910.)