WIXTEEGEEEX. 327 



on red stalks. The fruit which succeeds them is a bright crimson- 

 red, berrv-Uke and sub-globular, the exterior being formed by the 

 enlargement of the fleshy calyx which encloses the true fruit, 

 which is a thin-walled, 5-celled capsule. The seeds are numerous, 

 attached to the axis, small and slightly reticulated on the surface. 



All parts of the plant possess a pleasant, peculiar, aromatic 

 odour, and yield on distillation the oil known as " oil of winter- 

 green," which is largely used in combination with other oils in 

 perfumery. A similar oil is yielded by the bark of Betula Icnta 

 (Black Birch), known in Pensylvania as " Sweet Birch, and owing 

 to the difficulty experienced in procuring pickers for the winter- 

 green leaf the distillation of oil from this plant is almost entirely 

 superseded by that of the Birch. 



The Betula lenta is known to attain a height of 75 feet, but 

 as generally found its height is from 10 to 25 feet. Its leaves are 

 ovate or oblong-ovate, more or less heart-shaped at the base, 

 accuminate, sharply and finely double serrate ; when mature 

 shining and bright green above, and glabrous, except on the veins 

 beneath. It is found in moist woods from New England north- 

 wards to Illinois, and along the Alleghany regions southwards. 

 As described by Kennedy* and by Breischf in selecting a locality 

 for the establishment of a distillery of this oil, two things must 

 necessarily be taken into consideration, first that the material is at 

 hand in such abundance that the supply may not soon be 

 exhausted ; second, that there is a good supply of water. Xot 

 only the bark, but the whole tree is used, especially the saplings, 

 except a few small sprouts near the ground, which, if left, will in 

 five years have attained a height of 8 to 10 feet ; this height is 

 considered quite large enough to cut. It will be observed that 

 from the stumps of trees cut this year a new growth will have 

 formed and be ready to cut in five years hence, and so on every 

 five years, therefore this industry does not involve the destruction 

 of the trees as one would suppose. The small trees are preferred ; 

 the labourer who gathers them is paid about 3 dollars per ton 

 delivered, and the owners of the land are paid one dollar per ton 

 for the privilege of cutting the trees. The greatest yield is 



* American Journal of Pharmacy, Feb., 1882. 

 t Ibid, Dec, 1891. 



