CHAP. CXllI. CONl'FERiE. ZA^IUX. 2367 



bark, several depots of liquid resin, contained in cavities which are some- 

 times 1 in. thick, Sin. or 4 in. broad, and as much in height. In a trunk ot' 

 40 ft. in length, as many as six of these large reservoirs of liquid resin have 

 been found, and several smaller ones. When the wood of a tree cut down 

 in this state is sawed up, a cut with a hatchet will make the turpentine flow 

 abundantly; and the sawyers often find the movement of the saw impeded by 

 it. Young and vigorous larches have none of these reservoirs, which appear 

 not to be formed till the tree has attained its full growth ; and it is conse- 

 quently in this state only that the tree is in a fit condition for being pierced for 

 the extraction of its resin. The peasants of the Valley of St. Martin, in the 

 Pays de Vaud, use augers nearly an inch in diameter, with which they pierce 

 the full-grown larches in different places, beginning at 3 ft. or 4 ft. from the 

 ground, and mounting gradually to 10 ft. or 12 ft. They choose, generally, 

 the south side of the tree, and, where practicable, the knots formed by 

 branches which have been broken or cut off, and through which the turpen- 

 tine is seen exuding natural!}'. The holes are always made in a slanting 

 direction, in order that the turpentine may flow out of them more freely; and 

 care is always taken not to penetrate to the centre of the tree. To these 

 holes are fixed gutters made of larch wood, which are 1 ^ in. wide, and from 

 15 in. to 20 in. long. One of the ends of each gutter terminates in a peg, 

 through the centre of which is bored a hole about 1^ in. in diameter. Tiiis 

 end of the gutter is forced into the hole made in the tree, and the other end is 

 led into a small bucket, or trough, which receives the turpentine. In the coun- 

 tries where larches are abundant, says Du Hamel, particularly in the Bri- 

 anf onnais and the Vallais, may be seen, in the fine weather of spring, a 

 prodigious quantity of little buckets at the foot of the trees, each attached to 

 a tree by a slender tube, or gutter, through which the clear limpid turpen- 

 tine, glittering in the sun, trickles down, and soon fills the bucket ; while 

 every morning and evening, the peasants hasten from tree to tree, examining 

 their buckets, taking away or emptying those that are full, and replacing them 

 with empty ones. This harvest, if so it may be called, continues from May 

 till September ; and the turpentine requires no other preparation, to render 

 it fit for sale, than straining it through a coarse hair cloth, to free it from 

 leaves, or any other accidental impurities that may have fallen into it. When 

 a hole made in a tree does not produce turpentine, or when the turpentine 

 ceases to flow, the hole is stopped with a peg, and not opened for a fortnight 

 or three weeks. When these holes are reopened, the turpentine is generally 

 found to flow from them in greater abundance than from the other holes in 

 the tree, and they continue to give still more and more, till the flow of the 

 sap is stopped in autumn by the cold. A full-grown healthy larch, if tapped 

 when of the proper age, will yield 71b. or 8 lb. of turpentine every year, for 

 40 or 50 years. 



The wood of a tree from which the resin has been extracted is never used 

 for building purposes : it is, indeed, only good to burn ; and the charcoal 

 made from it is very much lighter than, and very inferior in everj' respect to, 

 that made from larciies which have not been deprived of their resin. The 

 turpentine of the larch is called Venice turpentine, because it used formerly 

 to be sent to England and the north of Europe only from that commercial 

 city. It should be clear, transparent, free from all impurities, of the con- 

 sistence of a thick syrup, with a bitter taste, and a strong disagreeable smell. 

 It is employed in medicine, and particularly in veterinary surgery ; and it 

 is reckoned excellent to draw out thorns, splinters, &c., and to cure ulcers 

 and old wounds which appear to be in danger of gangrene. It is used in the 

 formation of what are called drawing plasters, and also for making several 

 kinds of varnish. It is sometimes distilled with the addition of water, like the 

 turpentine of the pinaster; but its essential oil, colophony, &c., are very 

 inferior to those produced by distilling the turpentine of any other of the 

 pine and fir tribe. 



The Manna of Briancon is a kind of sa[) of a sweetish but insipid taste, 



7 o 



