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NEW USES OF THE LEAF OF THE PINUS SILVESTRIS. 



[1853 



obtained by the vibration of a wire or wires carrying the charcoal 

 points, and which points, in tlie act of vibrating, successively 

 approach to, and recede from, each other, within limits that may 

 be adjusted and regulated according to the power of the current 

 of electricity in use; or the motion can be given by the vibration 

 of a metallic fork, carrying the carbon on each branch; or by an 

 eccentric wheel movement, carrying the electrodes within the 

 required limits rapidly towards, and then away from each other, 

 on each revolution; or by the revolution of two discs on a com- 

 mon axis, but revolving in contrary directions, carrying carbon 

 arms or radii, acting as the electrodes and crossing each other 

 scissor-wise, but without actual contact at any time, and in this 

 way causing the light-emanating points or edges successively and 

 continually to close upon, and to separate from each other; or the 

 motion can be obtained by the rapid revolution of two carbon 

 wheels with serrated edges placed and acting edge to edge ; or by 

 the revolution of two wheels or rings, placed concentrically with 

 the proximate, or light-emanating portions serrated, or made 

 angular ; or the like results can be obtained by a variety of other 

 forms and arrangements of the electrodes, and the requisite 

 motive-power be supplied by clock-work, by magneto-electric 

 action, &c. ; but, howsoever arranged or accomplished, mechani- 

 cally, I would cause the electrodes alternately to approach to, and 

 to recede from each other, by a movement so rapid that i light 

 free from any sudden or apparent fluctuations is produced. 



If with a battery there be connected two wires (thick enough 

 not to have their elasticity affected by the heat of the current,) 

 eacli carrying a ball of solid charcoal, the two balls acting as the 

 electrodes, and these wires be stretched out parallel to each other, 

 and be made to vibrate, so that the carbon balls shall come close 

 together on each vibration but not into actual contact, we have a 

 beautiful illustration of the pure light that vibrating electrodes 

 may be made to yield, when all other essential conditions (as the 

 renewal of the carbon) are provided for. 



Again, if two narrow and longish slips or pencils of charcoal 

 (forming the terminals of the circuit, or, in other words, the elec- 

 trodes) be placed parallel, and close together, and be made to 

 revolve on an axis in contrary directions, scissorwise, they yield 

 a light which, when viewed from a direction in the plane of their 

 revolution, appears as a long pencil, and when at right angles to 

 that plane, as a broad disc of light, a method which supplies at 

 once and readily a means of diffusing over ,' lmost any area the 

 too intense light hitherto obtained by emanation from the minute 

 point of the ordinary electrodes. The light in this arrangement, 

 comes, of course, only from the points of the carbon that at any 

 moment are the nearest together, but so rapidly does the change 

 in position from one point to the other take plr.ee in the act of 

 revolving, that the result is the impression on the eye either (ac- 

 cording to what direction seen from) of a pencil or of a disc of 

 light, the former of the entire length of the slips carbon used, the 

 latter the size of the area of a circle, the diameter of which is the 

 entire length of the slips. 



In reference to a diffused electric light, the product of the 

 action of those or of any other kind of diffusing electrodes, the 

 writer need not point out among numerous other uses, its impor- 

 tant applications in photography. 



New uses of the Leaf of the Pimis Silvestris. 



Not far from Breslau, in Silesia, in a domain called la Prairie 

 da Humboldt, exist two establishments, equally astonishing on 

 account of their objects and of their connexion ; one is a manu- 

 factory in which the leaves of the pines are converted into a sort 



of cotton or wool ; the other offers to the sick, as a salubrious 

 bath, the waters left from the making of this vegetable wool. — 

 Polh were founded under the head Inspector of Forests, M. de 

 Pannewitz, the inventor of a chemical process, by means of which 

 from the long and slim leaves of the pines is procured a very 

 fine filamentous substance, which has been called 'wood-wool, 

 (laine de bois,) because it curls, felts, and may be spun like 

 common wool. 



The pinus silvestris, or wild-pine, whence this new product is 

 procured, is already much esteemed in Germany, on account of 

 several valuable advantages which it presents; and, in place of 

 abandoning it to its natural growth, extensive plantations of it 

 have been formed, which are true forests. When planted on 

 light and sandy soils, which it prefers, and in which it grows 

 with the greatest rapidity, it gives them consistency and solidity. 

 Associated with the oak, it becomes shelter, under the shadow of 

 which this latter acquires a great strength of development, until 

 in its turn it rises above its protector. When the pine has reached 

 its fortieth yeaiyjt furnishes very profitable crops of resin. Its 

 wood is esteemed for buildings, &c. The employment which M. 

 de Pannewitz has proposed to give to its leaves will, without 

 doubt, contribute to spread Still more the culture of a tree already 

 so useful, and will perhaps, give it some favor in other countries 

 where it is scarcely known. 



All the acicular leaves of the pines, the firs, and coniferous 

 trees in general, are composed of a bundle of fibres extremely 

 fine and tenacious, which are surrounded and held together by a 

 resinous substance in thin pellicles. When by heat, and by the 

 employment of certain chemical reagents, the resinous substance 

 is dissolved, it is easy to separate the fibres from each other, to 

 wash them, and to free them from all foreign bodies. Accord- 

 ing to the method used, the woolly substance acquires a finer 

 quality, or remains in a coarser state ; and in the first case it is 

 employed as wadding ; in the second, as filling for mattresses. 

 Such, in a few words, is the account of the discovery due to M. 

 Pannewitz. 



In practice, the pinus silvestris has been preferred to others 

 because it has the longest leaves. There is no reason to doubt 

 that in the countries in which other species of pines exist with 

 equally long foliage, the same product may be as advantageously 

 obtained. There is no danger in stripping the pine of its leaves 

 even in its youth. This tree has need for its growth only of the 

 whorls of leaves which terminate each branch ; all the leaves 

 which surround the rest of the branch may be stripped off without 

 doing any harm. The operation must take place while they are 

 green, for it is only then that they can serve for the extraction of 

 the woolly substance. The stripping of the leaves is the province 

 ot poor people, and pays them good wages. The operation can 

 only be performed every two years. The product of each gather- 

 ing is one pound of leaves for a branch of the thick- 

 ness of the finger. A beginner can gather thirty pounds per 

 day ; an experienced hand may get as much as one hundred and 

 twenty. The profit is greater from a felled tree than one 

 standing. 



The first use which was made of this filamentous substance 

 was to substitute it for cotton wadding in quilted coverlets. In 

 the year 1842, the hosjsital of Vienna bought five hundred of 

 these coverlets, and, after using them for several years, renewed 

 its orders. It was remarked, among other things, that, under the 

 influence of pine-wool, no kind of parasitic insect harboured in 

 the bed, and the aromatic odour which they emitted was con- 

 sidered to be agreeable and beneficial. Soon afterward, the pen- 

 itentiary of Vienna was provided with the same kind of cover- 



