Birch-tar

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Birch-tar or birch-pitch is a substance (liquid when heated) derived from the dry distillation of the wood of the birch. It is therefore pyroligneous.

Birch-tar was used widely as an adhesive as early as the late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic era. It has also been used as a disinfectant, in leather dressing, and in medicine.

It is compounded of guaiacol, phenols, cresol, xylenol, and creosol.