Cases of phenol (C6 H5 OH) poisoning were more frequent in the past than they are today. Approxi mately 50% of those reported have terminated fatally. An oral dose of 1 g. phenol may be lethal to man, although it has been recorded that patients have survived the ingestion of 65 g. (Kobert, 1906). The following cases have been reported :? Severe acute intoxication occurred in a 3-year-old child, whose scalp was treated accidentally with pure phenol instead of a dilute solution. The mistake was discovered four minutes after appli cation, when the child became unconscious (Brown, 1895). A nurse, whose thumb and index finger were contaminated with pure phenol, accidentally touched the groin of a 7-day-old infant, leaving two patches, one the size of a sixpence and the other of a half crown. Severe convulsions were observed within