2 ORD. I. Coniferz. PINUS BALSAMEA. 
beneath, and marked with whitish lines. The male catkins are ovate; the 
crest of the anthers kidney-shaped, pointless, or furnished with short spines, 
but never bifid; the females with numerous ovate, notched, pointed bracteas. 
The cones, which stand erect upon the branches, are large, nearly cylindri- 
cal, and when full grown, of a beautiful, deep, glossy, purple colour, inclining 
to black, and exuding a great quantity of transparent resin, which gives 
them a very beautiful appearance. Figure (a) represents a female catkin, 
(2) a male catkin, (c) scales of a catkin, (d) its bracteole, (e) the anthers, (/) 
scale of a cone. 
The Pinus balsamea is a native of the coldest regions of North America, 
growing abundantly in Canada, Nova Scotia, New England, and the other 
northern provinces. It has been cultivated in this country since 1698, but 
our climate does not appear to be congenial to it, for although it attains a 
considerable height, it seldom survives above twenty years.* 
The fine turpentine of the shops, or what is commonly called Canada bal- 
sam, is yielded by this tree. It exists in great quantity, in the vesicles be- 
tween the wood and bark; being collected by making incisions in the trunk 
of the tree, through which it exudes. It is imported into this country in 
casks, weighing about one cwt. each. 
Sensible and Chemical Properties, Sc. Canada balsam, or turpentine, has 
a strong, but rather agreeable odour; its taste is somewhat bitter, and re- 
sembles the other turpentines; its colour is pale yellow, with a greenish 
tinge, transparent, and has the consistence of honey fresh from the comb. 
Distilled with water, it yieldsa limpid, colourless, essential oil, and leaves 
a solid resin, resembling the common yellow resin. Distilled by itself, it 
yields, first, a clear oil, in appearance like that obtained by distillation with 
water, but which gradually changes to yellow, and then red, and leaves a 
black resin.. During the operation of distillation, succinic acid also rises. 
It is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and ether, also in the volatile 
and drying oils; it is soluble in alkaline leys and the strong acids; the sul- 
phuric and nitric acids convert it into artificial tannin. The essential oil, 
or spirit of turpentine, as it is commonly called, has a strong penetrating 
* Some of the largest and oldest trees are said to be on the estate at Warwick Castle, 
and at Woburn, the seat of the Duke of Bedford. 
+ Annales de Chim. xxi. 328. 
