AMERICAN SILVER FIR. 
Ill 
in packing fish ; but for this purpose the White Pine and Yellow Spruce 
are commonly preferred. 
The resin of the Pines is extracted by means of incisions in the body of 
the tree, at which it exudes from the pores of the bark and from the sap- 
vessels of the alburnum : in the American and European Silver Firs, this 
substance is naturally deposited in vesicles on the trunk and limbs, and is 
collected by bursting these tumors and receiving their contents in a bottle ; 
only a few bottles are annually obtained in Canada, the District of Maine 
and the adjacent countries. It is sold in England and the United States 
under the name of balm of Crilead, though every body knows that the true 
balm of Gilead is produced by the Amyris gileadensis, a very different 
vegetable and a native of Asia : perhaps the name has been borrowed in 
consequence of some resemblance between the substances in taste and 
smell. The fresh turpentine is a greenish transparent fluid, of an acrid 
penetrating taste ; given inconsiderately it produces heat in the bladder, 
and applied to wounds it causes inflammation and acute pain. It has been 
highly celebrated in England, and is recommended in certain stages of the 
pulmonary consumption; in these cases it is preferred to the resin of .the 
European Silver Fir, which is collected in a similar manner in Switzerland 
and in some parts of Germany. 
This tree has been long cultivated in Europe, but it must be reserved 
for the embellishment of pleasure grounds, where its regular form and 
agreeable foliage give it a distinguished place among evergreen trees. 
The Silver Fir of Europe is so analogous to that of America, that it is 
unnecessary to describe it ; the only difference is that it has longer leaves 
and bigger cones, and attains a much greater elevation ; according to M. 
Burgsdorf, grand-forester of Prussia, it is sometimes 150 feet high and 6 
feet in diameter. The wood of the two species is similar in its general 
character, and though the advantage is on the side of the Silver Fir of 
Europe, it is still inferior to the Norway Spruce Fir, which is the more to 
be regretted on account of its size. 
PLATE CL. 
A branch with a cone of the natural size. Fig. 1, A seed. 
[As an ornamental tree the Balm of Gilead retains its beauty for only 
the first 15 or 20 years of its existence, during which period, when in 
health and vigor, it is extremely beautiful both in color and form. After 
this period it loses its lower branches, has a sickly hue, and should then be 
dismissed from the pleasure grounds.] 
