As to carbolic acid not being a good antiseptic, the following reports, I think, fully prove the contrary:—
The late Dr. W. Allen Miller, F.R.S., preserved urine and fresh blood for three months by the simple addition of five per cent. of Calvert’s carbolic disinfecting powder—a product containing fifteen per cent. of carbolic acid in a free state.
Mr. Wm. Crookes, F.R.S., says that he took some albumen from fresh eggs and mixed it with an equal bulk of water. By itself it became bad after nine days, and at the end of three weeks it smelt very strongly. He added to four bottles of the fluid respectively 1, 2½, 5, and 10 per cent. of carbolic acid powder (equivalent to 3/20, ⅜, ¾, and 1½ per cent. of free carbolic acid). All kept good at ordinary temperatures for forty days. Blood with 1/15 per cent. of carbolic acid remained good for a month. Solutions of size, glue, and gum mixed with 1/15 per cent. of carbolic acid have remained for two months without becoming sour. Fresh yeast was washed with water containing one-tenth per cent. Its power of inducing fermentation was entirely destroyed.
Dr. F. Crace Calvert, F.R.S., in his paper on comparative disinfectants, gives the following results with antiseptics upon solutions of albumen:—
| Antiseptic employed. | Percentage of antiseptic used. | Time in which acquired an offensive odour. Temperature 70° to 80° F. |
| Chloride of lime | 5 | 16 days. |
| Tar oil | 2 | 11 days. |
| Carbolic acid | 2 | remained sound six months |
| None | — | 5 days. |
The writer preserved meat for ninety days, during a hot summer, by placing twelve ounces of fresh meat in a bottle containing one pound of water and five grains of carbolic acid. The mouth of the bottle was left open, and no offensive smell was emitted till the ninety-third day. The meat was, of course, unfit for food, and was merely experimented with to test the antiseptic power of carbolic acid.
The following is an extract from a report in Compte Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences of March 6th, 1871, by Messrs. Nelaton, Langier, and Payen, on experiments made at the Paris Morgue by M. Devergie:—
“During the heat of summer, when putrefying corpses in the Morgue continually emit a quantity of noxious gases that cannot be removed by ventilation or destroyed by chlorine or bleaching powder, we decided to prevent their production by trying to destroy the vitality of the germs of putrefaction, and thus prevent decomposition itself. We effected this by dissolving one litre of carbolic acid in 1,900 litres of water and irrigating the bodies with the solution thus made. Putrefaction was completely stopped, and disinfection was even obtained after reducing the quantity of acid by one-half. M. Devergie points out that water containing one four-thousandth part of carbolic acid proved sufficient during the intense heat of last summer to disinfect the deadhouse, without the aid of any shaft, when six or seven dead bodies were lying there. * * * * * * * * * * * Carbolic acid seems well adapted for the disinfection of rooms which have been occupied by persons suffering from infectious diseases; therefore, we recommend its use, after being dissolved in thirty times its weight of water, by sprinkling it on the floors, pavements, and staircases during the stay of patients in rooms and for a few days after their departure.”
According to Dr. Sansom carbolic acid is readily taken up by air, so that 159.44 cubic inches of air, at 60° Fah., contain one grain of carbolic acid. Air thus carbolised (currents excluded) entirely annuls putrefaction and fungoid manifestation on the surface of putrescible fluids, and such carbolised air is more permanently efficacious than air charged with the fumes of chloride of lime or sulphurous acid, and it may be breathed with impunity by mammifers.
These few observations will, I think, satisfy your readers that Mr. Sutton’s remarks are erroneous and without foundation. I shall be glad to learn that photographers have tried carbolic acid in the preservative solution for dry plates, and would recommend them to make a solution of carbolic acid, one part to one thousand parts of water, and then add their albumen to this solution to the strength they require it. Above all things it is essential that the carbolic acid be of good quality for photographic purposes; and I would recommend them to use an acid such as Calvert’s No. 1 (gilt label) carbolic acid.—I am, yours, &c.,