184 Transactions, — Miscellaneous. 



bark about five inches wide and twenty inches long is stripped from the 

 trunk just above its base; a cavity sufficiently large to hold a half pint of sap 

 is cut in the trunk at the bottom of the place thus laid bare, or a trough may 

 be attached on the outside. Above the trough or cavity the inner bark is 

 removed to the width of four mches and the height of six. The resin es- 

 capes from between the inner bark and the Avood, and is conducted to the 

 trough, which is emptied at regular intervals. The surface of the wound is 

 lightly chipped over once a week until the close of September, so as to expose 

 a fresh surface ; by this means its dimensions are gradually increased, but it 

 is not allowed to exceed six inches in width and eighteen in length. 



The following spring a new piece of bark is stripped off immediately 

 above the old wound, and the process is repeated yearly until the incision 

 is carried to the height of fifteen feet or thereabouts, according to the 

 strength of the tree, when a new incision is made at the base parallel with 

 the old one but leaving about two inches of bark between the two, and 

 continued to the same height. This is repeated until the entire circumfer- 

 ence of the trunk has been wounded, when the old incisions are found to 

 have become sufficiently healed to bear a repetition of the process. When 

 it is intended to remove the trees for firewood, or for the manufacture of 

 tar, incisions are made all round the trunk at the same time and regardless 

 of length. 



The resin which hardens on the surface of the wounds is very white, 

 and is scraped off to be used in the manufacture of wax candles ; it is termed 

 barras. The liquid resin is termed galipot : when collected it is placed in 

 wooden vats sunk in the earth. In this state it contains fragments of bark, 

 earth, and other impurities. In order to purify it, it is placed in large 

 copper boilers, with brick flues or chimneys to carry away the smoke ; it is 

 kept boiling, and is constantly stirred. In order to ascertain when it has 

 been sufficiently boiled, a small portion is poured on a piece of smooth 

 wood ; if, when cool, it crumbles freely on pressure between the fingers, it 

 is considered ready for filtering, which is effected by pouring it over a layer 

 of straight straw or rushes about six inches in thickness, when it is allowed 

 to run into casks, and becomes the brown resin of commerce. 



Yellow resin is manufactured by frequently adding cold water, a few 

 drops at a time ; this causes the resin to ex^Dand, when it is allowed to pass 

 through a tube — previously fixed in the side of the boiler — into another 

 vessel. From this it is ladled back into the boiler, the operation being con- 

 tinued until the resin becomes perfectly clear, v/hen it is filtered into sand- 

 moulds, forming cakes of from 100 to 200 pounds in weight. 



The straw and waste material are utilized in the manufacture of lamp- 

 black, as already stated. 



