604 CONIFER^.. 



®Bmn00perm0. 



CONIFERS. 



TEREBINTHINA VULGARIS. 



Grude or Common Turpentine ; F. Terebenthhie commune ; G. 

 Qemeiner Terpenthin. 



Botanical Origin — The trees which yield Common Turpentine 

 may be considered in two groups, namely, European and American. 



1. European — In Finland and Russia Proper, the Scotch Pine, 

 Pinus silvestris L.; in Austria and Corsica, P. Laricio Poiret; and in 

 South-western France, P. Pinaster Solander (P. maritima Poiret), 

 extensively cultivated as the Pin maritime, yield turpentine in their 

 respective countries. 



2. Amencan — In the United States, the conifers most important for 

 terebinthinous products are the Swamp Pine, Pinus australis Michaux 

 (P. 2^(X'lustris Mill.), and the Loblolly Pine, P. Toida L. 



History — The resin of pines and firs was well known to the ancients, 

 who obtained it in much the same manner as that practised at the 

 present day. The turpentine used in this country has for many years 

 past been derived from North America. Up to the last century, both 

 it and the substance called Common Frankincense were imported from 

 France. The late civil war in the United States and the blockade of 

 the Southern ports, occasioned a great scarcity of American turpentine; 

 and terebinthinous substances from all other countries were poured into 

 the London market. The actual supplies, however, were mainly fur- 

 nished by France. 



Kopp^ quotes a passage showing that the essential oil of turpentine 

 was known to Marcus Grsecus, who termed it Aqua ardens. This almost 

 unknown personage is the reputed inventor of Greek Fire, a dreaded 

 engine of destruction in mediaeval warfare. 



Secretion — The primary formation of resin-ducts in the bark of 

 coniferous trees has been explained by Dippel,^ Miiller,^ and Frank."* 

 The subsequent diffusion of the resinous juice through the heart- wood, 

 sap-wood, and bark, has been elaborately investigated by Hugo von 

 Mohl.^ From the various forms under which this diffusion exists in the 



^ Geechkhfe der Chemie, iv. (1847) 392. * Beitrcuje zur Pflanzenphysiologie, Leip 



- Botanische Zeifuny, 1863. zig, 1868. 119. 

 * Pringslieim. Jahrb. fur wmenschaftl. * Botanische Zeiltnuj, 1859. 329. 



Botanik. 1866. 



