Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1885. 
Pine  or  Forest  Wool. 
105 
color  not  to  extractive  from  the  pine  leaf,  but  to  the  application  of  the 
usual  dyeing  material  for  that  purpose.  That  peculiar  epidermal  cell 
tissue  which  characterizes  the  pine  leaf  was  entirely  absent. 
In  addition  to  this  fibrous  article  now  described,  there  is  another 
material  called  "  pine  foliage  forest  wool  flannel/'  hygienic  flannel, 
also  "  from  the  forest  of  Thuringia,''  claiming  public  and  professional 
patronage.  It  professes  to  be  made  from  the  fir  wool,  the  produce  of 
the  Black  Forest  fir,  Pinus  sylvestris.  This  is  a  woven  material  of  the 
same  color  as  that  previously  described.  The  warp  was  detached  from 
the  weft  in  order  that  they  might  be  examined  separately ;  the  warp 
when  the  dye  was  removed  corresponded  in  every  respect  with  the 
fibre  previously  examined  and  behaved  in  a  like  manner  with  the  same 
reagents ;  in  fact  it  was  cotton.  The  fibres  of  the  weft  were  next 
examined.  In  burning  they  gave  off  that  peculiar  horny  empyreumatic 
odor  indicating  an  animal  origin ;  boiled  in  caustic  alkali  they  were 
completely  dissolved ;  examined  under  the  microscope  the  imbrications 
on  the  individual  hairs  proved  previous  suspicions  to  be  correct,  that 
this  fibre  consisted  of  wool.  The  woven  material  was,  therefore,  a 
combination  of  ordinary  cotton  and  sheep's  wool,  the  former  probably 
rather  preponderating. 
These  fibrous  materials  profess  to  owe  their  origin  to  the  leaves  of 
the  Pinus  sylvestris ;  but  the  venation  of  most  of  the  Conifers  is  simple, 
one  single  unbranched  midrib,  and  the  only  available  true  fibres  are 
the  fibro- vascular  bundles  of  this  midrib,  which  are  surrounded  by 
parenchymatous  tissue.  The  fibro-vascular  tissue  of  the  midrib  shows 
with  the  previously-mentioned  reagents  a  distinct  difference  from  that 
of  cotton. 
It  would  appear,  then,  that  this  "  curious  industry,"  consisting  in 
the  utilization  of  the  leaves  of  the  pine  in  the  formation  of  a  fibrous 
material  called  pine  or  forest  wool,  has  given  birth  to  another  curious 
industry,  which  is  endeavoring  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  medical 
profession ;  the  results  of  this  investigation  may  assist  in  determining 
its  true  value  as  an  addition  to  our  remedial  appliances. — ^arm.  Jour.  /  • 
and  Trans.,  Nov.  15,  1884,  p.  381. 
Pari^irink  Hydrochlorate  has  been  found  valuable  by  Dr.  Ferreira 
in  chronic  cases  of  latentague,  in  doses  of  2  grams  or  more  a  day — Lancet, 
December  6,  1884.  This  is  doubtless  the  alkaloid  of  pareira  brava,  which  is 
better  known  as  pelosine  and  is  regarded  as  being  identical  with  buxine 
and  bebeerine. 
