704

ELEMENTS OF MATEIUA MEDICA.

common frankincense, or Thus (Abietis resina, L.), from which is preparedBurgundy pitch (Pise Abietina, L.)

2. Abies balsa' mea, Lindley, E.; Pinus balsa'mea, Linn. Lambert, L.D- ’the\ Canada Balsam Fir: Balm of Gilead Fir. —Leaves solitary, A at ’emarginate, subpectinate, suberect above. Scales of the flowering c ° neacuminate, reflexed. An elegant tree , seldom rising more than 40 fe®*'Inhabits Canada, Nova Scotia, Maine , Virginia, and Carolina. VCanada balsam.

3. Abies canaden!sis, Lindley, in Loudon’s Encycl. of Plants; Pin 113canadensis , Linn. Lambert; the Hemlock Spruce Fir. —Said to yield a ”oleo-resin analogous to Canada balsam.

4. Abies Pi'cea, Lindley ; Abiespectinata, Decandolle ; Pinus Pi ceCl 'Linnaius ; the Silver Fir. —Mountains of Siberia, Germany , and Switz® 1land. Yields Strasburgh turpentine .

5. Abies nigra, Michaux ; Pinus nigra, Lambert; the Black Sp rl> .Fir. — The concentrated aqueous decoction of the young branches, *'essence of spruce, used in the preparation of spruce beer (United St0‘Dispensatory.)

La'rix europcea, Decandolle.—The Common Larch .

Abies Larix. Lam. E. Pinus Larix, Linn. D.

Sex. Syst. Monoecia, Monadelpliia.

Botany. Gen. Char. — Flowers monoecious. Character as in Abi® s ’but the Cotyledons are simple and never lobed. Cones lateral. L e( f e 'when first expanding, in tufted fascicles, becoming somewhat sold ar -by the elongation of the new branch ( Bot. Gall.) reS

Sr. Ciiar. — Leaves fascicled, deciduous. Cones ovate-oblong. Edf,of scales reflexed, lacerated. Bracts panduriform (Lambert.) i

Hab. —Alps of Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Siberia , &c. Culti' ain woods. ,

Products. —This species yields Larch or Venice turpentine. ^ 1 ,,the larch forests of llussia take fire, a gum issues forth from the m® ( 1 tlary part of the trunks, during combustion, which is called OrenbiVJgum (Gummi orenburgense). A saccharine matter exudes from the } axC labout June, which is called Manna of the Larch , ox Manna de ]iri (t,l ( ^Lastly, a fungus, called Polyporus Laricis (vide p. 574), is nourishedthis tree.

Medicinal Substances obtained from the preceding

Coniferous Plants. , j

The term turpentine {terebinthina) is ordinarily applied to a l'|| U Vor soft solid oleo-resinous juice of certain coniferous plants, as > vt! *of the Pistachia Terebinthus, a plant of the order Terebintaceie, ■’Indeed this last-mentioned plant, Pistachia Terebinthus, is probabl' ^true Terebinthus of the ancients (Tipyhdoe, Tlieopli. and Pioseoi' 1 *When submitted to distillation, these juices are resolved into a vo j.oil (oleum terebinthina;) and a resinous residuum. The roots and 0 ^hard parts of coniferous trees yield, by a kind of distillatio per d escen * s \\\the thick liquid called tar, from which pitch is procured. Hence i ^ ul -be convenient to speak of the coniferous terebinthinates under jheads:—1st, the oleo-resinous juices ; 2dlv, the volatile oil °e a .^/ ( ,therefrom by distillation; 3dly, the resinous residuum ; 4thly, tar aiw 1