The more important of those in use to-day are carbolic acid, the perchloride and biniodide of mercury, iodoform, formalin, salicylic acid, &c. Carbolic acid is germicidal in strong solution, inhibitory in weaker ones.
Similar spots are produced on potatoes in America by the fungus Oospora scabies, and in both cases, if affected "seed" potatoes are steeped in a solution of 2 pint formalin in 15 gallons of water for two hours before planting, the attack on the resulting crop is materially lessened.
Thus 4% buffered formaldehyde is equivalent to 10% buffered formalin.
Fixed in formalin, as pathologists prefer, tissue is useless for extracting nucleic acids and proteins.
When exposed to air the latex gradually undergoes putrefactive changes accompanied by coagulation of the caoutchouc. The addition of a small quantity of ammonia or of formalin to some latices usually has the effect of preserving them for a considerable time.