548 
ON  BURGUNDY  PITCH. 
In  France,  as  in  England,  the  term  Burgundy  Pitch  (Poix  de 
Bourgoyne)  is  by  the  more  accurate  writers  restricted  to  the 
melted  and  strained  resin  of  the  spruce  fir,  of  which  substance 
the  following  description  is  given  in  the  last  edition  of  the  Co- 
dex : — 
Translation. — Burgundy  Pitch  is  of  brownish  yellow,  solid  and 
brittle  in  the  cold,  flowing  when  warm,  very  tenacious,  having  a 
peculiar  odor,  and  an  aromatic  taste  without  bitterness ;  not 
completely  soluble  in  alcohol  in  the  cold.  There  is  frequently 
substituted  for  it  another  product  called  white  pitch  {poix 
blanche),  prepared  with  galipot*  or  a  mixture  of  yellow  resin 
and  Bordeaux  turpentine,  melted  and  mixed  with  water.  This 
artificial  pitch  has  a  strong  smell  of  Bordeaux  turpentine,  and  a 
very  marked  bitter  taste.    It  is  entirely  soluble  in  alcohol. 
Where  is  then  true  Burgundy  pitch  manufactured  ?  Is  it 
actually  met  with  in  commerce  ?  By  what  characters  may  we 
judge  of  its  purity  ? 
The  authors  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  mention  it  as  a  pro- 
duction of  Switzerland,  where  the  spruce  fir  is  certainly  found  in 
great  abundance.  But  I  have  it  upon  excellent  authority — that 
of  my  friend,  Dr.  Fliickiger,  of  Bern — that  at  the  present  time 
no  terebinthinous  resins  are  collected  in  Switzerland  for  commer- 
cial purposes.  Neither  is  true  Burgundy  Pitch  produced  in 
France,  as  its  name  would  seem  to  indicate,  Pinus  maritima, 
Lamb,  being,  in  fact,  the  only  tree  the  resin  of  which  is  collected 
in  that  country  as  an  industrial  product.  The  name  Burgundy 
Pitch  seems,  in  fact,  to  be  a  complete  misnomer,  no  such  sub- 
stance having  been  ever  produced  in  Burgundy.  Pomet,  writing 
in  1694,  thus  speaks  of  "  Poix  grasse  ou  Poix  blanche  ou  Poix 
de  Bourgoyne  "  : — 
"  On  fait  fondre  le  Galipot  avec  tant  soit  peu  d'huile  de  Tere- 
benthine,  et  de  la  Terebenthine  commune,  et  ensuite  c'est  ce  que 
nous  appellons  Poix  grasse,  ou  Poix  blanche  de  Bourgoyne,  & 
cause  que  Ion  pretend  que  la  meilleure  et  la  premiere  s'est  faite 
a,  saint  Nicolas  en  Lorraine :  ce  qui  est  tout  le  contraire  d'au- 
*  Note  by  Translator. —  Galipot,  dry  resin,  collected  in  France  from 
tliQ  trunks  of  Pinus  maritima,  Lamb. 
