The present day synthetic processes for the production of phenol may be attributed, at least, indirectly to fore-runners of our modern school of chemists. Faraday laid open a vast field for scientific research along the lines of aromatic hydrocarbons by his discovery of benzene in 1825. Nine years later, F. Runge; after much experimental work on this new material, found phenol. It was not obtained in its crystalline condition however until 1842 by Laurent.