594  Early  History  of  Canada  Balsam.  {^Ver'iSr™' 
1635,  to  Samuel  Champlain,  a  very  active  and  intelligent  officer  of  tlie 
French  navy.  His  accounts  being  not  at  my  disposal  I  referred  to 
those  of  Marc  Lescarbot,  who  visited  Canada  in  1606,  and  wrote  in 
1612  the  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle-France,  contenant  les  naviga- 
tions, decouveries  et  habitations  faites  par  les  Fran§ois  es  Indes  Occi- 
■dentales  et  Noiivelle-France/'  etc.  There  is  a  reprint  of  the  original 
■edition,  published  in  1866,  at  Paris,  by  Edwin  Tross,  3  vols.    In  the 
third  volume  of  this  recent  edition  there  occur  the  following  state- 
ments : 
Page  805  :  The  author  mentions  excellent  bricks  to  have  been  made 
of  Canadian  clay,  the  bricks  being  used  for  constructing  chimneys  and 
furnaces,  the  latter  intended  for  melting  the  gum  of  jyines  {"  fondre  la 
gomme  de  sapin  This  may  as  well  refer  to  the  solid  resin  of  Coni- 
ferse,  yet  at  page  811  mention  is  made  of  the  healing  virtues  of  the 
resin,  i.  e.,  no  doubt,  the  turpentine  or  balsam  :  "  .  .  .  Et  sur  le  pro- 
pos  de  guerison  il  me  souvient  d'avoir  oui"  dire  au  Sieur  de  Poutrin- 
oourt  qu'il  avoit  fait  essay  de  la  vertu  de  la  gomme  des  Sapins  de  Port 
Royal."  And,  still  more  explicit,  page  820,  Lescarbot  says  that  the 
pines  of  Canada  are  very  rich  in  gum,  so  that  some  of  them  die  on 
■account  of  its  too  large  quantity.  This  gum  he  found  to  be  as  fine  as 
that  of  Venice,  and  quite  excellent  in  ]^harmacy.  He  furnished  some 
-churches  in  Paris  with  it,  and  was  told  that  it  made  a  very  good 
incense,  or,  in  his  own  words :  ^'  De  bois  exquis  je  n^  sache  que  le 
Cedre  et  le  Sassafras :  mais  des  Sapins  et  Pins,  se  pourra  tirer  un  bon 
profit,  parce  qu'ils  rendent  de  la  gomme  fort  abondamment,  et  meurent 
Ibien  souvent  de  trop  de  graisse.  Cette  gomme  est  belle  comme  Tere- 
beiithine  de  Venise,  et  fort  souveraine  a  la  Pharmacie.  J'en  ay  bailie 
:a  quelques  eglises  de  Paris  pour  incenser,  laquelle  a  este  trouvee  tort 
bonne." 
Sassafras,  it  may  be  observed,  is  mentioned  here,  apparently,  as  a 
timber ;  it  is  now  in  Canada,  as  far  as  I  know,  rather  bushy  than  a 
strong  tree,  which  would  be  able  to  yield  any  timber  wood.  As  to 
the  perfume  of  the  turpentine  of  Canada,  as  displayed  in  the  churches 
of  Paris,  we  may  mention  that  Monsieur  Lescarbot  was  not  a  natu- 
ralist, but  an  advocate. 
