;^o 



half." Rhaze speaks of the oil having a tendency to relieve obstructed kidneys, a circumstance not 

 improbable, and well deserving of being put to the test of experience, if it were only for the sake of substi- 

 tuting what would be so much more agreeable to the palate than the common turpentmes. 



THE SIBERIAN STONE PINE 



ESSENTIAL OIL. 



fOIeif7n cssentiale Pint Cemhra). 



r 



Balsamum CarpatJiicum, of the Germans. 



* 



Bahamum Lihani. Murray, Jjjp. Med. Vol. I. p. 15. 

 Carpathian Balsam. 



The German writers describe the Carpathian Balsam as being pellucid, very hqnid, and of a whitish 

 colour, and as having an odour and taste like oil of Juniper. We are informed that it is extracted, by 

 distiihition, from the shoots of Pinus Cembra, after they have been bruised, and macerated a month in water. 

 It was brought into notice by the authors who are mentioned above as having treated of the Krumholz-od, and 

 they have recommended it to be rubbed on the temples, for the cure of vertigo, and to be dropped into the 

 ears for the cure of stisurnis and difficulty of hearing. Like all other popuhir medicines, this l)alsam has 

 reputation, in Germany, for performing great wonders in many complaints of very opposite characters, as 

 pleurisy, erysipelas, caicuhts, and putrid disorders; hence its alledgcd virtues are not to be too hastily credited. 



THE SILVER FIR 



LIQUID RESIN. 



fPesina liquidu pijtmna). 



TerehintMna Argeyitoratcnsis , or Strasburg Turpentine. Dale's Pharm. (Ed. 1737) 277. 



. This resin is generally of a middle consistence between that of the Terehinthus and the Lanx\ more 

 transparent and less tenacious than either; in colour yellowish brown; in smell more agreeable than any 

 other turpentine, except the Cyprian; in taste the bitterest, yet least acrid. 



Our own shops do not now retain any liquid resin under the name of Strasburg Turpentine, but it is sold 

 in several parts of Germany, where its reputation still exists; and, according to some authors,' this sort is to 

 be considered as equal, if not superior, to all the other substitutes for the genuine juice of PisiacJda 



Terehinthus. 



The greatest quantity is collected l)y the peasantry living in the vicinity of the Alps, who set out every 

 year towards the month of August, provided with sharp-pointed hooks and a bottle suspended to the waist, 

 for the purpose of puncturing the vesicles adhering to the bark of the trees. It is a curious sight, says 

 Duhamel,' to observe the peasants climbing to the very top of the highest firs by means of the cramp-iron 

 with which their shoes are armed, and which pierce the bark, their two legs and one arm grasping the trunk, 

 whilst the other arm is employed with the hook. Some of them make use of a pointed bull's horn, which 

 serves both as an instrument and a receptacle, and, as soon as it is filled, the resin is poured into the bottle; 

 the bottle is afterwards <;mptied into a larger or into skins, which are used for conveying the resin to the most 



advantageous places of sale. 



As it often happens that leaves, fragments of bark, moss, &c. fall into the horns, the resin is purified 

 *by filtration; for which purpose a piece of bark is stripped off from a fir to make a kind of funnel; at the 



L 



Haller Helv. (Tom. 2. p. 317.) on the authority of Spielman. ' Murray, p. 15. 



' 'I'railc des Arbrcs, Tom. I. p. 9- 



•> Matthiol. p. 107. 33-i. Haller, p. 314. 



V 



