CONll-EK.E. 267 



in the basket is put into a common alombic, and a large quantity of watci- bein" 

 added, the Hquor is distilled as long as any oil Hunts on the top. This oil is tho 

 common spirit or oil of turpentine, and the remaining matter at tho bottom of tlic 

 still is the common yellow rosin. Another important product of tho pine is tar, Tho 

 process by which it is obtained is very simple. The situation most favoumblo to the 

 process is in a forest near to a marsh or bog ; because the roots of the Scotch pitio 

 from which tar is principally extracted are always most pi-oductivc in such placcH. 

 A conical cavity is made in the ground (generally in tho side of a bank or sloping 

 hill), and the roots, together with logs and billets of the wood, being neatly tru.sscd in 

 a stack of the same conical shape, are let into the cavity. The whole is then covered 

 with turf to prevent the volatile parts from being dissipated, which, by means of a 

 heavy wooden mallet and a stamper, is beaten down, and rendered as lirm as possible 

 above the wood. The stack of billets is then kindled, and a slow combustion of tlio 

 pine takes place, as in making charcoal. During this combustion the tar evades, and 

 a cast-iron pan being fixed at the bottom of the funnel, with a spout which projects 

 through the side of the bank, barrels are placed beneath this sp{jut to collect the fluiil 

 as it comes away. As fast as these barrels ai-c filled, they are bunged, and arc ready 

 for immediate exportation. During this proccs.s, the wood itself b^-ing drained, is 

 converted into charcoal. When pitch is to be made, the tar, without anything being 

 added to it, is put into large copper vessels (fixed in masonry to prevent any djinger 

 of the tar taking fire), and is then suff"ered to boil for some time, after which it is let 

 out, and, when cold, hardens, and becomes pitch. 



Tar and charcoal are obtained in Russia much in the same manner as in Sweden, 

 from the bottoms of the trunks and roots of trees. In Gemiany the process is con- 

 ducted with great accuracy. The process in Scotland is very simple, and the tar 

 which is extracted is very coarse, and used only for local purposes. Flambeaux of 

 the roots and trunks of the pine are used both in Britain and in the North of Europe. 

 Hall, in his " Travels in Scotland," relates a story of a bet made in London by a 

 Highland chief that some massive silver candlesticks on the table at a gentleman's 

 house where he was dining were not better or more valuable than those commonly in 

 use in the Highlands. The chieftain won his bet by sending to his estate for four 

 Highlanders of his clan, and producing them with torches of blazing fir in their 

 hands, declaring that they were the candlesticks to which he alluded. Dr. Howison 

 observes that " the little tallow or oil Avhich the peasantry in Russia can procure is 

 entirely consumed at the shrines in the chui-chcs, and before the images in their isbaS" 

 or huts." To supply the place of candles, " they take long billets of red Scotch pine, 

 which they dry carefully near their stoves during the tedious winter, and split, as 

 occasion requii-es, into two long laths. When a traveller arrives, or a light is required 

 for any purpose, one of these laths is lighted and fixed in a wooden fi-arae, which 

 holds it in a horizontal position. It gives a bright flame, but only burns for a short 

 time." 



As an ornamental tree various opinions are entertained of the Scotch fir. lUton 



says : — 



" The Scottish fir, in murky file. 

 Rears his inglorious head, and blots the fair horizon." 



Gilpin accounts for the disfavour in which the Scotch fir is commonly held in a 

 landscape on two grounds. He says: "People object first to its colour; its murky 

 hue is displeasing. A second soiu'ce of contempt in which the Scotch fir is generally 

 held is our rarely seeing it in a picturesque state. Scotch firs arc seldom planted as 



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