NORWAY SPRUCE FIR. 
261 
The first of these substances, viz. ; Abietis resina, is rare 
in English commerce, and it was not until during a recent 
visit to Switzerland, that I had an opportunity of obtaining 
an authentic specimen. In many parts of that country this 
species of Abies is very abundant, forming extensive and 
beautiful tracts of forest. The resin exudes spontaneously 
from fissures in the bark of the tree, and especially from 
those places where branches have been broken off. When 
it first issues, it is sometimes quite transparent and liquid, 
but is more commonly found opaque, and of a pale yellow 
color and soft consistence. By exposure to the air, it hard- 
ens and becomes of a browner tint. Some of the hardened 
tears are internally white and opaque, like drop ammonia- 
cum, the broken surface acquiring a pink hue by exposure 
to the air. The odor is peculiar, terebinthinate, cheesy, and 
rather aromatic ; the taste slightly bitter. 
The article now sold as Abietis resina, is believed to be 
imported chiefly from America, and in odor and color much 
resembles common American turpentine hardened by age. 
It usually occurs in large agglutinated masses, whose sur- 
faces when long exposed become transparent, brittle, and 
of a deep yellow color. Internally, they are soft and 
opaque, pale yellow marbled with whitish patches. The 
odor is that of common American turpentine, though not so 
powerful. Some of this resin appears to have exuded 
spontaneously, and contains such impurities as small chips 
of wood, sticks, leaves, &c. The leaves are evidently not 
those of the Norway spruce fir. 
When genuine Abietis resina is melted in hot water, 
strained and cooled, we obtain Burgundy pitch, as a very 
pale, yellowish brown substance, almost entirely soluble in 
cold alcohol, easily softening in the hand, and having a 
peculiar, agreeable, aromatic odor. Burgundy pitch, appa- 
rently genuine, is imported from Hamburgh in tubs called 
stands, each containing about one hundred pounds, but it 
is usually in so impure a state as to require straining, some- 
