257 PINUS SYLVESTR1S 



Its chief consumption is in ship -building, and for the preservation 

 of fences, &c. 



OTHER PRODUCTS OP PINUS SYLVESTRIS. Besides the official tar 

 as above described, several other substances are also obtained 

 from this tree. Thus oil of turpentine is an important product ; 

 this is described under Pinus australis and Pinus Tada. 



Pitch, Black Pitch, or Pix arida, which was formerly official in 

 our pharmacopoeias, is another valuable product. It is obtained 

 by submitting tar to distillation, when the residuum left in the 

 still is pitch. At ordinary temperatures, pitch is an opaque, 

 black, solid substance, breaking with a shining conchoidal 

 fracture. It softens by the heat of the hand, and is readily 

 soluble in alcohol and the other liquids already mentioned as 

 solvents of tar. It has very little taste, but a disagreeable odour. 

 Pitch consists of resin, combined with various other empyreu- 

 matic resinous substances which are commonly known under the 

 name of pyretin. Pitch is very largely imported into this country 

 from Russia, and also to some extent from other tar-producing 

 countries ; it is also manufactured here from tar. The chief 

 consumption of pitch is for similar purposes as tar, but it is also 

 occasionally used like it in medicine. Thus externally in the form 

 of an ointment, as an application to obstinate skin diseases, and to 

 foul and indolent ulcers ; but tar is generally preferred in such 

 cases. It has likewise been recommended as an internal remedy 

 in skin diseases and in piles. It is also used in veterinary practice, 

 more especially as a mild stimulant application in thrush and 

 canker in horses ; and foot-rot in sheep. 



Pinus sylvestris also yields the valuable timber known as 

 Dantzic or Riga Fir, and Russian Deal. The inner bark is likewise 

 used in Norway for making Bark Bread. From the leaves of this 

 species of Pinus the substance called Pine-wool or Fir- wool is also 

 chiefly prepared. This wool is used for stuffing mattresses, &c., 

 and is said to be repulsive to vermin. Wadding for medical use, 

 and cloth for numerous articles of dress, &c., are also manufactured 

 from these leaves. An oily substance called fir-wool oil or fir- 

 wool spirit has also been introduced into this country from 



