Am.  Jour,  rharm. 
Feb.,  1885. 
Pine  or  Forest  Wool. 
99 
alkaloids  contaiDed  in  the  bark  when  compared  with  the  yield  of  qui- 
nine. It  seems  to  me  that  when  really  good  sorts  of  trees  are  properly 
cultivated  and  carefully  managed,  a  steady  yield  of  the  best  alkaloids 
may  be  relied  on.  It  would,  I  think,  be  important  to  ascertain  the 
highest  sustained  yield  of  quinine  that  any  or  all  of  t*he  best  species 
can  attain  to.  On  this,  in  my  opinion,  rests  the  future  prosperity  of 
planters  wherever  bark  trees  are  cultivated. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans., 
Dec.  13,  1884,  p.  463. 
PINE  OR  FOREST  WOOL.   (WALD-WOLLE.   LAINE  DES 
BOIS.)         -1,.  J 
By  Thomas  Greenish,  F.C.S.,  F.R.M.S. 
About  the  year  1840  a  new  and  curious  industry  sprang  up  at  a 
place  called  Humboldtsau,  or  the  Meadow  of  Humboldt,  situated  near 
Breslau,  Upper  Silesia,  which,  like  most  novelties,  had  for  several 
years  to  struggle  with  difficulties  before  it  could  be  said  that  its  posi- 
tion was  established, — that,  in  fact,  it  occupied  a  place  in  the  estima- 
tion of  the  public  or  was  noticed  by  the  medical  profession.  This  in- 
dustry consisted  in  the  utilization  of  the  acicular  leaves  or  leaflets  of 
the  pine  in  the  production  of  a  substance  to  which  the  name  "  Wald- 
Wolle,^'  rendered  pine  or  forest  wool,  was  applied ;  and  it  evidently 
extended  itself,  iov  there  subsequently  arose  new  manufactories  at 
Remda  in  the  Thiiringen-Wald ;  at  Jonkoping  in  Sweden ;  Wagen- 
ingen  in  Holland  ;  as  well  as  in  some  parts  of  France. 
Schledel,  in  his  "  Waaren-Lexicon,"^  mentions  this  substance  under 
Wald'  WoUe,  and  describes  it  as  the  fibres  of  the  needles  of  Pinus 
sylvestrisy  also  of  the  black  pine,  Pinus  niger  austriaca,  fabricated  after 
the  process  introduced  by  Joseph  Weiss,  of  Zuckmantel,  Austrian 
Silesia.  When  prepared,  it  resembles  horsehair,  and  has  been  used 
for  stuffing  mattresses,  which  purpose  it  seems  to  have  fully  answered, 
and  the  mattresses  stuffed  with  it  possess  an  aromatic  odor.  In  the 
process  of  its  manufacture  a  volatile  oil  is  obtained  called  Wald-wolle- 
ol,  or  forest-wool  oil,  which  is  used  as  an  external  application  in 
rheumatic  affections.  The  Wald-wolle  products  can  be  procured  in 
Berlin,  Vienna,  Leipzic,  etc." 
'  Sixth  edition.    Leipzic,  1850. 
