Glass bottle with glass stopper, containing clear liquid. Typed paper label reads "Glycerine & Carbolic". Glycerin is a colourless, sweet, syrupy liquid obtained from animal and vegetable oils and fats by saponification. Largely used in Med. as an ointment and emollient dressing, as a vehicle for medicaments, etc. Chemically it is a triatomic alcohol, the hydrate of glyceryl. Pears Soap, the oldest commercial glycerine soap, was first sold in 1789. The first medical mention found is Savory & Moore, Companion to the Medicine Chest, 1878, p.29: “Glycerin. Principally used externally for chapped hands, or nipples, fissures of the lips, or irritation of the skin of any kind.” Carbolic is probably referring to phenol, also known as carbolic acid and phenic acid, is an organic compound with the chemical formula C6H5OH. It is a white crystalline solid at room temperature. The molecule consists of a phenyl group (-C6H5) bonded to a hydroxyl group (-OH). It is mildly acidic, but requires careful handling due to its propensity to cause burns. Phenol was discovered in 1834 by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge who extracted it from coal tar. Savory & Moore 1878, p.1: “Acid, Carbolic. Principally used for disinfecting purposes. It should be remembered that this acid is a strong poison.”