Morey on Heat and Light. 127 
portion of water in its combustion, contams the waiter within 
itself, and gives a brighter light than common candles or 
lamps, and without smoke or smell.—It is pitch pine wood. 
What this highly mflammable substance contained in this 
wood is, I know not; undoubtedly it is well known to cth- 
ers. But it is certainly a very different one from the tar 
obtained from the same wood. ‘The more volatile parts are 
evaporated at a temperature below that of boiling water, 
and burn well with three parts of the vapor of water: the 
flame then, however, is nearly blue. A kind of spirit may 
easily be procured from distilling this wood, which will be 
highly inflammable ; and which, I should think, can cost 
but'a few cents per gallon, as it comes over most rapidly. 
ft is with all its water well calculated to burn in these 
lamps. 
I exposed some of it to severe frost one night, and found 
nearly three-fourths of the lower part converted mto a cake 
of ice. ‘This was some of the first that came over, and con- 
sequently contained more water than it would afterwards. 
It was distilled by one of the lamp-stoves, exactly m the 
same manner as if I had filled it for burning to give light. 
While distilling I often applied a flame to the vapor, and 
found it always would take fire. Its appearance is very 
similar to brandy. One pound of the fattest part of the 
wood gives from eight to twelve or fourteen ounces of the 
liquor or spirit. It dissolves rosin, mixes and spreads well 
with paints, and appears to prepare wood as well for receiv- 
ing a coat of paint as oil. 
There is something singular in the vapor of pitch pine, 
when issuing through small apertures. The particles do 
not repel each other like other vapors ; but, if not inflamed, 
they issue, when under a moderate pressure, two or three 
inches without increasing their size at all: sometimes these 
jets extend eight or ten inches and apparently as fine as a 
hair, accompanied often, above the stream, with an invisible 
vapor, which is known only by its burning with a blue 
flame, hardly visible. ‘There is no doubt that on a scale of 
some magnitude this substance will afford abundance of heat 
for its own evaporation, much in the same manner as that 
mentioned for burning spirits of turpentine and water. ‘The 
birch bark too is almost wholly converted into a liquid, 
