PINE- WOOL. 305 



bound into long rigid leaves by means of a resinous integument ; but the 

 practical development of tbis knowledge is but of recent date. Near 

 Breslau, in Silesia, there are two establishments, both of which are 

 worthy of notice. One of these is a factory where pine-leaves are con- 

 verted into a kind of cotton or wool ; and the other, an establishment for 

 invalids, in which the waters used in the manufacture of the pine-wool 

 are employed as curative agents. These establishments have both been 

 erected, as we are informed, by M. Pannewitz, the discoverer of the 

 process employed for obtaining the fibrous material from pine-leaves. 

 This material he calls " woody wool." It can be curled, felted, or woven. 

 "We are not acquainted with the precise method employed by M. Pannewitz, 

 but we have succeeded in obtaining a coarse brownish-yellow fibre by 

 boiling pine-leaves in a solution of caustic alkali for a few hours ; and 

 after rinsing and boiling them again in alkaline liquor, and saturating 

 them in a solution of chloride of lime, a whiter and finer substance, much 

 resembling the pine-wool wadding now being imported from the Thuringer- 

 wald. It is stated that by the mode of preparation employed by M. 

 Pannewitz, the woolly substance acquires a quality more or less fine, or 

 remains in its coarse state. In the former case it is employed as wadding, 

 and in the latter as a stuffing for mattresses. The leaves may be stripped 

 from the trees when quite young without injury, and a man may gather 

 200 lb. per day. 



The first application of this fibrous material consisted in its sub- 

 stitution for cotton with wool in the manufacture of blankets. Five 

 hundred of these were sold to a hospital at Vienna, and after a trial of 

 several years they are now exclusively used. Amongst the enumerated 

 advantages, it has been stated that no kind of insect will lodge in the 

 beds, and that the odour has been found agreeable and beneficial. Since 

 this period, the same kind of blankets have been adopted at the Peniten- 

 tiary and some other institutions in Vienna, as well as in the barracks at 

 Breslau. Its application for stuffing purposes has been no less successful ; 

 the cost being one-third that of horsehair, and its resemblance so great, 

 that it has been affirmed that when employed in furniture, the most experi- 

 enced upholsterer could not tell the difference. When spun and woven, the 

 thread resembles that of hemp, is very strong, and may be advantageously 

 employed for many of the purposes for which hemp is used. From this 

 " Forest-wool yarn " are now manufactured jackets, spencers, drawers, and 

 stockings of every description ; flannel and twill for shirts, coverlids, body 

 and chest 'warmers, and knitting yarn. These manufactures are recom- 

 mended for keeping the body warm without heating, and are very durable. 



In the preparation of the wool, an ethereal oil is produced, which is 

 at first green, but on exposure to sunlight becomes of an orange yellow 

 tint, and when distilled colourless. It has been successfully employed 

 as a curative agent. It burns in lamps like olive oil, and completely 

 dissolves caoutchouc. The perfumers of Paris are stated to be employ- 

 ing it in considerable quantities. The liquid left by the decoction 



x 



