728 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts 9 and Letters. 
CONTRIBUTION TO THE CHEMISTRY OF AMERICAN 
CONIFERS. 
BY A. W. SCHORGER. 
The chemistry of conifers is deserving of particular study both 
on account of its scientific interest and economic importance. 
Pinene, the chief terpene occurring in the volatile oils of the 
Coniferae, derived its name from the genus Pinus in which it is 
found so abundantly. Through the study of pinene and its 
derivatives was laid the foundation of the chemistry of the 
terpenes which forms one of the most interesting chapters devel¬ 
oped in organic chemistry during the past twenty«-five years; 
and yet in spite of a vast amount of research, pinene is still one 
of the few terpenes whose constitution is not known with abso¬ 
lute certainty. 
From the economic standpoint the* conifers are the most im¬ 
portant of the forest trees. The annual cut of timber from this 
class in the United States exceeds that of all other woods by 
fourfold, while the value of the various oils and resins obtained 
as by-products amounts to approximately $40,000,000. The coni¬ 
fers also supply the bulk of the raw material used in the pulp 
and paper industry. In addition, the development of terpene 
chemistry has pointed out the way for new uses of forest pro¬ 
ducts. Camphor can be successfully synthesized from pinene, 
and turpentine can be broken down into isoprene which can 
in turn be readily polymerized into rubber. Success in the latter 
direction depends upon improvement in the yields of isoprene. 
The present survey of the composition of the conifers has been 
made for the purpose of determining their constituents per se 
with a view to their utilization in the arts, and as a preliminary 
step in obtaining more fundamental knowledge of the constit¬ 
uents themselves. The naval stores industry of the South is de- 
