THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
DECEMBER,  1881. 
NOTE  ON  THE  EAELY  HISTOEY  of  CANADA  BALSAM. 
By  Professor  Fluckiger. 
In  the  short  article  devoted  to  the  above  drug  in  my  "  Pharmakog- 
nosie  des  Pflaiizenreiches/'  Berlin,  1881,  p.  70,  I  availed  myself  of 
the  opportunity  of  completing  its  history,  being  kindly  assisted  in  my 
investigation  by  my  friend.  Dr.  Charles  Rice,  of  New  York,  as  well 
as  by  Mr.  Wm.  Saunders,  of  London,  Ontario.  I  am  indebted  to  the 
latter  for  the  following  information,  as  met  with  in  Boucher^ s  "  His- 
toire  de  la  Nouvelle-France,'^  dated  October  8th,  1663,  "de  la  Ville 
des  Trois-Eividres  en  la  Nouvelle-France.^^  The  author  states  :  II 
y  a  des  sapins  comme  en  France :  toute  la  difference  que  j'y  trouve 
c'est  qu^a  la  plus  part  il  y  vient  des  bubons  a  I'ecorce  qui  sont  remplis 
d/une  certaine  gomme  liquide  qui  est  aromatique,  dont  on  se  sert  pour 
les  playes  comme  de  baumes,  An'a  pas  gueres  moins  de  vertu.'^  In 
English  :  There  are  pines  or  firs  like  those  in  France,  except  that  they 
have  little  swellings  in  the  bark,  which  are  filled  with  a  certain  aro- 
matic gum ;  this  has  been  found  as  useful  for  wounds  as  the  balsams. 
I  need  scarcely  point  out  that  similar  swellings  or  resin  ducts  are  also 
met  with,  in  France,  in  the  bark  of  Abies  pectinata.  See  "  Pharma- 
cographia,''  2d  edit.,  p.  615. 
This  is  a  very  plain  information,  which,  however,  does  not  refer  to 
the  earlier  period  of  the  French  settlement  in  Canada.  I  therefore 
tried  to  consult  some  earlier  accounts  of  the  French  explorations  in 
that  country.  I  had  not  before  me  that  of  Jacques  Cartier,  of  Saint- 
Malo,  who  in  1535  and  1541  paid  a  visit  to  Canada,  and  reached  the 
place  of  the  present  city  of  Montreal.  Cartier's  journey  was  very 
short,  and  his  accounts  too  meagre  as  to  be  expected  to  contain  any 
allusion  to  the  Balsam  under  notice.  A  thorough  exploration  of  Can- 
ada and  the  foundation  of  the  colony  was  due,  from  A.  D.  1601  to 
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