48 BURGUNDY PITCH. 



185O. Artificial Burgundy pitch, apparently intended as an 'imita- 



Artificial ^ on ^ ^ e sort * ast Described ( smce ^ strikingly differs from 



Burgundy the Hamburg or genuine sort), is manufactured in London and 



telL elsewhere, and is sold in bladders, as a clean, brittle resin, very 



moist, of a fine orange yellow colour, and having but little 



odour and taste. It does not completely dissolve in cold 



alcohol. 



Other varieties of spurious Burgundy pitch are employed 

 on the Continent, but as they do not occur in English commerce, 

 it seems unnecessary here to describe them. 



In answer to some questions, which were asked in the dis- 

 cussion which followed the reading of the paper, Mr. H anbury 

 stated that he believed the resin of the Spruce Fir was not 

 collected as an article of commerce in the districts which he had 

 visited, and from which he had obtained his specimens. The 

 trees grow to a considerable height, often more than a hundred 

 feet. 



ON BURGUNDY PITCH. 

 Burgunder Harz (von Abies excelsa). 



THE authors of the British Pharmacopoeia have defined 

 Burgundy pitch (Fix Burgundica) as a resinous exudation from 

 the stem of the Spruce Fir, Abies excelsa DC. (Pinus Abies L., P. 

 excelsa Lam.) melted and strained. They have thus followed 

 the London College of Physicians, which for nearly a century 

 and a half has included this substance in its Materia Medica, 

 indicating in the later editions of its pharmacopoeia a similar 

 botanical origin. 



% On the Continent the term Pix Burgundica (which is not 

 '* frequently applied) appears to have a less definite signification 

 . than with us, being used synonymously with Eesina alba to 

 designate the resins of various coniferous trees after purification 

 by being boiled in water and strained. The following descrip- 

 tion is translated from one of the more recent and esteemed 

 works on pharmacology, that of the late Dr. Berg. 1 



1 Pharmazeutische Waarenkunde, Berlin, 1863, p. 566. 



