Cresol

DESCRIPTION: To the tune of "John Brown's Body": "Oh, we'll sprinkle them with Cresol (x3), And they shall fight no more."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Nettleingham-TommysTunes)
KEYWORDS: soldier derivative technology
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Nettleingham-TommysTunes, #44, "Cresol" (1 short text, tune referenced)
Roud #10779
NOTES [175 words]: Cresol is actually a group of three closely related chemicals, all consisting of a benzene ring with one hydroxyl (OH) group and one methyl (CH₃) group. The different different cresols differ in the relative positions of the two groups; they are known as o-cresol (when the two are next to each other), m-cresol (when one space separates them around the benzene ring), and p-cresol (when two positions separate them). The correct terms for the three are 2-methylphenol, 3-methylphenol, and 4-methylphenol. The simplified (non-structural) chemical formula for all three is C₇H₈O.
They are pretty noxious chemicals, as their alternate names (hydroxytoluene, toluenol, benzol) show pretty clearly. As disinfectants, they were effective; they were good at disrupting cell membranes. The problem is, they disrupted human cell membranes as well as bacterial cell membranes, and are known to be toxic.... An early name for them, used by nineteenth century surgeons, was "carbolic soap," and the early formulations of Lysol disinfectant were based on them. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: NeTT044

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