deg. and
230 deg. C., and crystallizes out in a nearly pure state. The oily
portion remaining behind, about 60% of this distillate, contains about
30% phenols and 3% bases. It has highly disinfectant properties and is
frequently converted into special disinfectants, e.g. by mixing it
with four times its volume of slaked lime, which yields "disinfectant
powder" for stables, railway cars, &c. Mixtures of potash soaps (soft
soaps) with this oil have the property of yielding with water
emulsions which do not settle for a long time and are found in the
trade as "creolin," "sapocarbol," "lysol," &c.

That description of creosote oil which is sold for the purpose of
pickling railway sleepers, telegraph posts, timber for the erection of
wharves and so forth, must satisfy special requirements which are laid
down in the specifications for tenders to public bodies. These vary to
a considerable extent. They always stipulate (1) a certain specific
gravity (e.g. not below 1.035 and not above 1.065); (2) certain limits
of boiling points (e.g. to yield at most 3% up to 150 deg., at most
30% between 150 deg. and 255 deg., and at least 85% between 150 deg.
and 355 deg.); (3) a certain percentage of phenols, as shown by
extraction with caustic soda solution, say 8 to 10%.

Much of this creosote oil is obtained by mixing that which has
resulted in the direct distillation of the tar with the liquid portion
of the anthracene oils after separating the crude anthracene (see
below). It is frequently stipulated that the oil should remain clear
at the ordinary temperature, say 15 deg. C., which means that no
naphthalene should crystallize out.

_Working up the Anthracene Oil Fraction._--The crude oil boils between
280 deg. and 400 deg. C. It is liquid at 60 deg. C., but on cooling
about 6 to 10% of crude anthracene separates as greenish-yellow, sandy
crystals, containing about 30% of real anthracene, together with a
large percentage of carbazol and phenanthrene. This crystallization
takes about a week. The crude anthracene is separated from the mother
oils by filter presses, followed by centrifugals or by hot hydraulic
presses. The liquid oils are redistilled, in order to obtain more
anthracene, and the last oils go back to the creosote oil, or are
employed for softening the hard pitch (_vide supra_). The crude
anthracene is brought up to 50 or 60, sometimes to 80%, by was