THE HEMLOCK, FIR, AND LARCH. 



277 



The bark of the fir is gray, and what little mark- 

 ing there is on the trunk is horizontal or has a blister- 

 like appearance ; it is from these tiny excrescences 

 that the well-known Canada balsam is obtained, which 

 is remarkable for its healing properties.* 



The cone of the fir is from two 

 to four inches long, one inch broad, 

 and has a peculiar purplish color when 

 young ; it holds a somewhat erect 

 position on the edge of the branchlet, 

 and the scales are deciduous, flat, 

 rounded, thin, and accompanied by a 

 leaflet (bract) which is tipped by an Pf 

 abrupt slender point. 



The balsam fir is found in damp woods and 

 mountain swamps from Maine to Minnesota, and 



Balsam Fir Cone. 



* The atmosphere which is laden with the odors of the balsam 

 fir is also remarkable for certain qualities which are beneficial to 

 invalids. Asheville, N. C, is situated on a high plateau sur- 

 rounded by the Balsam Range of the Alleghany Mountains. In 

 this town the pure, dry air sifted through the balsam firs has a 

 wonderful power of healing for many lung diseases. There is a 

 sanitarium there which is a popular and famous resort for con- 

 sumptives. 



The late Dr. A. L. Loomis, of New York, in a paper read some 

 years ago before the State Medical Society, testified to the fact that 

 the pines and firs which abounded in the Adirondack region ladened 

 the atmosphere heavily with ozone, and that the resinous odors 

 of the evergreens were the most beneficial of all tonics for the 

 patient suffering with pulmonary phthisis. 



