82 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



for they are nothing more than the turpentine mixed 

 with a certain quantity of charcoal and empyreumatic 

 oil and acid, formed during the process of distillation. 



The collection of turpentine forms an important 

 operation in North America, and this produce of the 

 pine is a considerable article of commerce. In the 

 United States the business is confided principally to 

 negroes, and each slave has the charge of from 

 three to four thousand trees. The process lasts all 

 the year, although the incisions are not made in the 

 trees till the middle of March, and the flow of the 

 turpentine generally ceases about the end of October. 

 The first operation is that called ' boxing;' which is to 

 form a hole or sort of cup at the root of the tree, 

 holding about a pint and a half. An incision is then 

 made in the trunk; and the liquid which flows into 

 the box is turpentine, called in commerce pure dip- 

 ping. These boxes are emptied five or six times 

 during the season; and it is estimated that 250 

 boxes will produce a barrel weighing 320 pounds. 

 Scraping, an inferior species of turpentine, is the de- 

 posite made by the sap on the bark of the tree, as it 

 trickles down into the box. This is collected in the 

 autumn. The British imports of turpentine amounted, 

 in 1827, to 12,000 tons. 



In the United States tar is manufactured from the 

 dead wood of the Pinus Jlmtralis. The tar of the 

 north of Europe is, as we have said, very superior. 

 The process of making this important article of com- 

 merce, in Norway, is thus described by Dr. Clark : 



" The inlets of the Gulph (of Bothnia) every 

 where appeared of the grandest character; sur- 

 rounded by noble forests, whose tall trees, flourish- 

 ing luxuriantly, covered the soil quite down to 

 the water's edge. From the most southern parts 

 of Westro-Bothnia, to the northern extremity of the 

 gulph, the inhabitants are occupied in the manufac- 



