102 
Pine  or  Forest  Wool. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharni. 
Feb.,  1885. 
Martiiidale^  thus  refers  to  it :  "  Fir  wool  or  fir-wool  wadding,  ob- 
tained from  the  pine  leaves,  is  sold  as  a  brownish-yellow  fibre,  in 
sheets  like  cotton  wool.  It  has  a  faint  agreeable  odor  of  the  pine  leaf^ 
and  is  manufactured  into  blankets,  jackets,  spencers,  stockings,  etc.'' 
The  two  last  authors  refer  to  the  source  of  true  pine  wool,  but 
describe  an  entirely  different  article. 
In  the  National  Dispensatory,''  Stille  and  Maisch  refer  to  these 
products,  and  state  that  the  leaves  of  the  different  species  of  pine,, 
when  distilled  with  water,  yield  volatile  oils,  which  differ  from  the 
volatile  oils  obtained  from  the  resin  of  the  same  species.  Such  an  oil 
is  known,  and  to  some  extent  employed  in  Germany  as  Fichtennadelot 
(fir-leaf  oil),  and  the  leaves  by  pounding  are  converted  into  a  fibrous 
substance  known  as  FichtenwoUe  (fir  wool)." 
I  am  indebted  for  samples  of  the  true  pine  or  forest-wool,  wald- 
wolle,  to  M.  Bernardin,  Musee  de  Melle,  Belgium,  to  Herr  Dittrich,. 
Prague,  and  to  Dr.  Maschke,  in  Breslau.  I  have  also  received  two 
samples  from  S.  Graetzer,  of  Carlsruh,  the  depot  for  conifer  prepara- 
tions of  Humboldtsau.  These  two  differ  in  quality ;  the  finer  is 
labelled  ''adapted  for  coverlets,"  and  the  coarser  for  ''stuffing  cushions." 
This  substance,  more  or  less  fine,  and  with  a  faint  pine  odor,  con- 
stitutes the  article  known  as  Wald-wolle,  pine  or  forest  wool,  through- 
out Germany  and  the  Continent  generally,  and  all  authorities  to  which 
I  have  had  access  agree  as  to  its  origin,  the  pine  leaf ;  its  character,  a 
fibrous  substance ;  and  the  several  uses  previously  enumerated,  to 
which  it  has  been  applied  with  more  or  less  of  success. 
Some  eminent  members  of  the  medical  profession  on  the  Continent 
have  spoken  favorably  of  these  pine-wool  productions,  but  whether 
they  deserve  or  not  the  high  enconiums  passed  on  them  it  is  never- 
theless an  important  fact  that  a  material,  before  considered  almost  use- 
less, is  now  converted  into  articles  of  domestic  utility. 
The  several  samples  just  referred  to,  more  or  less  coarse,  of  a  red- 
dish-brown color,  as  forwarded  to  me  from  those  different  Sources,  were 
subjected  to  a  careful  histological  examination,  and  were  found  to  be 
composed  of  the  tissues  of  the  pine  leaf. 
Fig.  1  is  a  transverse  section  of  the  leaf  of  Plnus  sylvestris,  and 
presents  to  the  naked  eye  three  very  distinct  tissues.  A,  the  epidermal 
layer ;  the  fibro-vascular  bundles,  composed  of  bast  and  wood  cells ; 
C,  the  parenchymatous  chlorophyll  tissue,  with  the  oleo-resin  secret- 
1  "  Extra  Pharmacopoeia,"  1883,  p.  216. 
