Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1919. 
Oleoresin  of  Douglas  Fir. 
345 
now  to  memory.  The  faces  of  these  exemplary  men  rise  succes- 
sively before  my  eyes,  as  I  pen  these  lines.  And  also  come,  un- 
bidden, the  faces  of  not  less  sacrificing,  not  less  modest  pharmacists, 
who  today  are  worthily  utilizing,  for  the  benefit  of  others,  the  wealth 
handed  down  to  them  as  a  sacred  trust.  And  yet,  I  believe  that  such 
processes  are  privileges.  That  if  an  apothecary  makes  a  discovery 
that  benefits  humanity  it  is  often  a  duty  to  utilize  it  to  the  financial 
advantage  of  his  family  and  himself,  and  that  no  law  of  just  ethics 
can  demand  that  he  give  such  property,  without  recompense,  either 
to  his  competitors  or  to  the  world  at  large. 
THE  COLLECTION  AND  SOME  USES  OF  THE  OLEO- 
RESIN OF  DOUGLAS  FIR  (OREGON  FIR  BALSAM, 
DOUGLAS  FIR  TURPENTINE). 
By  S.  A.  Mahood, 
Chemist  in  Forest  Products,  Forest  Products  Laboratory,  U.  S.  Forest 
Service,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 
While  the  oleoresin  of  Douglas  fir  (Pseudotsuga  taxifolia)  is 
the  chief,  if  not  the  only,  constituent  of  an  article  of  commerce  regu- 
larly listed  under  the  name  of  Oregon  fir  balsam,  there  is  but  little 
information  available  on  the  methods  employed  in  collecting  this 
material.  The  facts  at  hand  or  obtained  from  those  familiar  with 
the  gathering  of  this  product  indicate  that  the  oleoresin  is  obtained 
in  one  of  two  ways. 
Draining  Method  in  Lumbering  Operations. 
One  of  these  methods  consists  in  having  buckets  or  other  suitable 
receptacles  where  logging  operations  are  being  carried  on  and  in 
allowing  the  oleoresin  which  exudes  from  some  trees  when  they  are 
felled  to  drain  into  one  of  these  vessels. 
Cruiser  Method  Based  on  Spotting  Trees. 
The  other  method  is  used  by  those  who  make  a  business  of  col- 
lecting this  material.  A  wind  shake  in  a  standing  tree  produces  a 
pocket  which  in  time  fills  with  oleoresin,  and,  if  an  aperture  is  made 
in  the  pocket,  the  oleoresin  readily  flows  out.    These  professional 
