Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
October,  1896.  J 
North  American  Conifer ce. 
559 
laevogyrate  pinene,  laevogyrate  bornyl  acetate  and  a  crystalline 
compound  which  was  not  investigated. 
Balsam  of  fir  is  collected  chiefly  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  Can- 
ada. A  full  description  of  the  industry,  by  Saunders,  was  made  to 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in  1877,  and  published  in 
the  Proceedings  of  that  year. 
ECONOMICS. 
The  wood  of  this  species  of  fir  is  used  for  masts  and,  to  some  ex- 
tent, for  lumber.  The  balsam  of  fir,  an  oleoresin,  is  a  most  useful 
product,  especially  as  a  mounting  medium  in  microscopy.  The  out- 
put in  Canada  has  amounted  to  5,000  gallons  per  year.  The  tree 
is  extensively  employed  for  ornamental  purposes  in  lawns. 
ABIES  FRASERI,  LINDLEY. 
DISTRIBUTION  AND  GENERAL  CHARACTERS. 
This  species  is  commonly  called  the  double  fir,  probably  from  the 
dense  arrangement  of  its  leaves.  It  occurs  at  high  elevations  in  the 
mountains  of  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina.  The  tree  attains  a 
height  of  from  50  to  70  feet,  and  a  diameter  near  the  base  of  from 
15  to  22  inches.  In  appearance  it  closely  resembles  the  balsam  fir, 
but  differs  in  the  fact  that  its  leaves  are  smaller  and  more  compactly 
arranged  on  the  branches,  and  in  its  cones,  which  are  only  about 
half  as  long  and  about  two-thirds  as  thick  as  those  of  the  balsam 
fir.  The  cones  are  also  brown  in  color,  and  the  bracts  are  longer 
and  reflexed.  The  wood  closely  resembles  that  of  the  balsam  fir, 
except  that  the  bands  of  summer  cells  are  somewhat  broader. 
MICROSCOPICAL  STRUCTURE. 
Sections  of  a  twig  five  years  old  showed  the  following  character, 
istics  :  The  resin  passages  were  apparently  less  numerous  and 
smaller  than  those  of  A.  balsamea,  and  the  mucilage  cells  were  more 
numerous  and  of  very  large  size.  There  were  clusters  of  stone  cells, 
some  of  them  branching  and  fibrous,  resembling  those  in  the  outer 
part  of  the  bast  of  A.  balsamea,  and  similarly  located.  The  tannin- 
bearing  cells  of  the  middle  and  inner  bark  were  similar  in  size  and 
arrangement  to  those  of  A.  balsamea.  The  medullary  rays  of  the 
wood  and  many  of  the  parenchyma  cells  of  the  pith  contained 
tannin. 
