414 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



.-.'* 



RESINS. 



TURPENTINE CHIAN STRASBURG VENICE 



COMMON TURPENTINE. 



TURPENTINE is a resinous juice which flows from 

 several trees. The manner of collecting it has been 

 briefly described in the account given of the pine-tree 

 in a former volume of this series, but the substance 

 is of too extensive use in the arts not to claim a 

 further notice in this portion of the work. 



The Chian turpentine is that which was most 

 anciently known. It is so called because the island 

 of Chios (Scio) was formerly famous for this resin- 

 ous product, the quality of which is much superior 

 to that of common turpentine. In the present day 

 Chian turpentine is very rarely to be met with in 

 commerce. The tree whence it flows is commonly 

 known as the turpentine-tree : it is called by bota- 

 nists Pistacia terebinthus. 



The tree grows to the height of twenty-five or 

 thirty feet ; the bark is very thick, and the wood is 

 hard and resinous. The leaves are winged, composed 

 of small single leaves growing in pairs opposite to 

 each other and terminated by an odd one ; these are 

 serrated and spear-shaped. The flower is succeeded 

 by a calyx, nearly round and resinous to the touch, 

 enclosing a nut which contains a kernel of a slightly 

 acid taste. This tree is an evergreen, but if exposed 

 to an ungenial climate the leaves turn somewhat 

 brown in autumn. It is native to Scio, and grows 

 likewise in some of the southern provinces of France. 



