Creosote

Résumé 0

Whilst wood tars and resins were used as remedies and preservatives since Prehistoric times (Ambrose 2018), creosote truly entered European sensory culture during the nineteenth century as an industrial preservative and medical disinfectant. In Europe, the generic term 'creosote' mostly refers to two distinct products, often confused with each other: wood-tar creosote and coal-tar creosote. The former is a light-coloured oily substance produced by heating certain types of timber (usually beech, birch, or coniferous woods) at high temperatures. The latter is a dark thick oily liquid extracted from coal-tar. Both share some medicinal and chemical properties (antiseptic, caustic, antifungal, to cite a few) as well as comparable tarry and phenolic olfactory profiles. Wood-tar creosote was discovered by Karl Von Reichenbach in1832 by working on pyroligneous acid and beech tar. First known under the name ‘carbolic acid’, coal-tar creosote on the other hand was discovered in 1834 by Rungé, and was soon renamed ‘coal-tar creosote’ ater chemists highlighted its similar properties with its wood-based counterpart (Schorlemmer 1885). Both creosotes were subsequently used in a variety of contexts requiring thorough disinfection, like factories, surgical rooms, or dental offices, but also in the treatment of several respiratory illnesses, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis. Despite most accounts describing creosote's pungent smell as particularly unpleasant, its association with hygienic and medical practices turned its tarry scent into a signifier of health and hygiene, feeding into the idea that treatments must smell bad to be effective, and contributing to the perception that physical pain and sensory distress are necessary experiences of proper care.