BURGUNDY PITCH. 



53 



ARTIFICIAL BURGUNDY PITCH. 

 Colour usually more brilliant 

 than that of the true Burgundy 

 Pitch. 



Odour 

 aromatic. 



weak and hardly 



Still less completely soluble 

 in alcohol of '838. 



Similarly treated, forms a 

 turbid mixture which soon 

 separated into two layers, a 

 thick oily liquid above and 

 a bright solution below. 



TRUE BURGUNDY PITCH. 



Colour dull yellowish brown ; 

 fracture shining, conchoidal ; 

 translucent ; some samples con- 

 tain much water and are opaque 

 and of a dull grey colour, and 

 require straining to free them 

 from impurities. Odour pecu- 

 liarly aromatic. 



Not wholly soluble in alcohol 

 of *838, but leaves a small 

 amount of fine white flocculent 

 matter. 



Placed in contact with 

 double its weight of glacial 

 acetic acid in a vial, is dis- 

 solved with the exception of 

 a small amount of flocculent 

 matter. 



The foregoing characters apply to most of the artificial 

 Burgundy Pitch which I have examined, and may be useful, 

 so , far as they go, for distinguishing the genuine ' from the 

 spurious. The odour of true Burgundy Pitch is in itself an 

 excellent criterion which cannot be conveyed by description. 

 Solubility in glacial acetic acid serves to reveal the presence 

 of fatty matter which is a common, perhaps an essential in- 

 gredient in the artificial Burgundy Pitch made in this country. 



From what has preceded may be deduced the following 



Conclusions. 



1. True Burgundy Pitch is the melted and strained resin of 

 Abies excelsa, DC. 



2. An artificial compound is usually sold in lieu of it both in 

 this country and on the Continent. 



3. True Burgundy Pitch is produced on a large scale in 

 Finland, also of fine quality in Baden and in Austria. 



4. True Burgundy Pitch differs palpably from the artificial, 

 and may be easily distinguished from it. 



1867. 



