AbstractA number of substituted benzyl alcohols have been prepared and together with some related, commercially available, compounds have been tested for antibacterial and antifungal properties. The most active inhibitory compound was 3:4:5‐trichlorobenzyl alcohol followed by 4‐chloro‐3:5‐dimethyl‐, 3:4‐dichloro‐ and 2:4‐dichlorobenzyl alcohols, but saturated aqueus solutions of the last three compounds were more rapidly bactericidal. Pharmacological tests have shown that 2:4‐dichlorobenzyl alcohol