Balsam fir

“ The leaves of balsam fir possess a pleasing and characteristic odor which is turned to account in a practical way. The small needles are stripped from the branches in large quantities, cleaned, dried, and are used for stuffing sofa pillows, cushions, and other kinds of upholstery. The odor persists a long time. Much of the collecting of the needles is done in summer as a pastime by summer campers in the northern woods. The needles are sufficiently tough to stand much wear in pillows, and they are still odorous when long use has ground them to powder. ”

“ The Balsam Fir is a tree fifty to eighty feet high, growing from Virginia northward. Canada balsam is made from the sap. The White Fir or Great Silver Fir is a large tree, often three hundred feet high and ten feet in diameter, growing from British Columbia to lower California. The wood is soft and extensively used for cooperage and boxes. The Red Fir is a large tree one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high, found in the same regions as the white fir. It is often planted in Europe as an ornamental tree. The Mexican Fir is a magnificent silver-leaved tree one hundred and fifty feet high. ”

“ Balsam, bawl′sam, n. the common name of a genus of succulent herbaceous plants: a resinous oily substance generally supposed to be derived from a species of Balsamodendron, early famous in the East for its fragrance and medicinal virtues: (fig.) any healing agent.—v.t. to heal: (rare) embalm.—adjs. Balsam′ic, Bal′samous, having the qualities of balsam: soothing; Balsamif′erous, producing balsam; Bal′samy, fragrant.—Canada balsam, a kind of turpentine obtained from the Balm of Gilead fir. ”

“ The fir woods are delightful sauntering-grounds at any time of year, but most so in autumn. Then the noble trees are hushed in the hazy light, and drip with balsam; the cones are ripe, and the seeds, with their ample purple wings, mottle the air like flocks of butterflies; while deer feeding in the flowery openings between the groves, and birds and squirrels in the branches, make a pleasant stir which enriches the deep, brooding calm of the wilderness, and gives a peculiar impressiveness to every tree. No wonder the enthusiastic Douglas went wild with joy when he first discovered this species. ”

“ In front of the city of Miser, which the Christians call Cair, there is a garden where balsam grows; it grows there only, and in India. The king-sultan enjoys a large income from this balsam. The Infidels often adulterate it, and merchants and druggists also mix it, and this they do that they may make more profit. (23) Genuine balsam is pure and clear, and has a pleasant taste, and is yellow; but when it is thick and red, it is not genuine. Take a drop of balsam in the hand, and expose it to the sun; if it is good, you cannot keep it long in the sun, because you feel the great heat. ”

“ Balsam.—Under this title there are two or three substances used in perfumery, such as balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu, and balsam of storax (also called liquid amber) . The first-named, is procured from the Myroxylon peruiferum; it exudes from the tree when wounded, and is also obtained by boiling down the bark and branches in water. The latter is the most common method for procuring it. It has a strong odor, like benzoin.
Balsam of Tolu flows from the Toluifera balsammum. It resembles common resin (rosin) ; with the least warmth, however, it runs to a liquid, like brown treacle. ”

“ The simple balsam was made by boiling one pound of flowers of sulphur with four times its weight of olive oil until the sulphur was dissolved and a thick dark balsamic substance was obtained. This was the formula of the P.L. 1746. But linseed oil and walnut oil were often prescribed in preference to olive oil, and oil of anise, oil of amber, oil of juniper, white wine, Barbadoes tar, turpentine, myrrh, aloes, and saffron; one or more of these substances were combined with the balsam in other receipts. ”

“ A great variety of substances pass under this name, but the term is now usually restricted to resins which, in addition to a volatile oil, contain benzoic and cinnamic acid. Among the true balsams are the balm of Gilead, and the balsams of copaiba, Peru, and Tolu. There are also many pharmaceutical preparations and resinous substances, possessed of a balsamic smell, to which the name balsam has been given.
2. (Bot.) (a) A species of tree (Abies balsamea) . (b) An annual garden plant (Impatiens balsamina) with beautiful flowers; balsamine.
3. Anything that heals, soothes, or restores. ”

“ The balsam formerly imported into Europe, is obtained chiefly by incision; but the quantity afforded by one tree is so very small, and the collecting of it is attended with so much trouble, that the genuine balm is seldom, and perhaps never exported in a commercial way. ”

“ As adulterants, are used: Alcohol, volatile oils, fat oil, especially castor oil; further, copaiba balsam, Canada balsam, gurjun balsam, storax, benzoin, and asphaltum. The establishment of these adulterants is connected with difficulties; but the properties of Peru balsam are so characteristic that it is quite easy to detect whether it is genuine and pure, or not, the specific gravity and proportions of solubility deserving especial attention in this respect. ”

“ The Indians work a tree a second year, by bruising the bark that was left untouched the previous year. As the bark is said to be renewed in the short space of two years, it is possible to obtain from the same tree an annual yield of about 2 lb. of balsam for many years, provided a few years of rest be occasionally allowed. Clay or earth is sometimes smeared over the bare wood.
The trees sometimes exude spontaneously a greenish gum-resin of slightly bitter taste, but totally devoid of balsamic odour. It has been analyzed by Attfield (see opposite page) . ”

“ The third was Xylo-balsamum, the worst of all, it was an expression or decoction of the small new twigs of a reddish colour. These twigs are still gathered in little faggots and sent to Venice, where I am told they are an ingredient in the Theriac, or of some sort of compound drug made in the laboratories there: But the principal quantity of balsam in all times was produced by incision, as it is at this day. Concerning this, too, many fables have been invented and propagated. ”

“ The balsam poplar is the balm of Gilead of the early settlers, the Tacamahac of the Northern Indians. They squeezed the fragrant wax from the winter buds and used it to seal up the seams in their birch-bark canoes. The bees taught the Indian the uses of this glutinous secretion, which the tree used to seal the bud-scales and thus keep out water. When growth starts with the stirring of the sap, this wax softens; then the bees collect and store it against a day of need. ”

“ Balsams without benzoic acid:—
Copaiva balsam, balsam of copahu or capivi, is obtained from incisions made in the trunk of the Copaifera officinalis, a tree which grows in Brazil and Cayenne. It is pale yellow, middling liquid, clear transparent, has a bitter, sharp, hot taste; a penetrating disagreeable smell; a specific gravity of from 0·950 to 0·996. It dissolves in absolute alcohol, partially in spirit of wine, forms with alkalis, crystalline compounds. It consists of 45·59 ethereous oil, 52·75 of a yellow brittle resin, and 1·66 of a brown viscid resin. ”

“ Peruvian Balsam. Qualities. Form, a viscid liquid of a reddish brown colour. Odour, fragrant and aromatic. Taste, hot and bitter. Chemical Composition. Resin, volatile oil, and benzoic acid; it is therefore a true balsam: this term was formerly applied to every vegetable resin having a strong scent and the fluidity of treacle, and which was supposed to possess many medicinal virtues; it is now restricted to those resins which contain the benzoic acid in their composition, of which there are only three, viz. the Balsams of Peru, Tolu, and Benzoin. ”

“ There was no salt in the air, no citrus scent in the breeze, no heavy incense of the great magnolia bloom perfuming the wilderness like a cathedral aisle where a young bride passes, clouded in lace.
But in the heat a heavy, sweetish odor hung; balsam it is called, and mingled, too, with a faint scent like our bay, which comes from a woody bush called sweet-fern. That, and the strong smell of the bluish, short-needled pine, was ever clogging my nostrils and confusing me. Once I thought to scent a 'possum, but the musky taint came from a rotting log ”

“ A second set of plants have seed-vessels which burst open explosively when ripe, and scatter their contents to a considerable distance. The balsam forms the commonest example in our European gardens; but a well-known tropical tree, the sand-box, displays the same peculiarity in a form which is almost alarming, as its large, hard, dry capsules fly apart with the report of a small pistol, and drive out the disk-shaped nuts within so forcibly as to make a blow on the cheek decidedly unpleasant. These we may designate as self-dispersed seeds. ”

“ Chilblain Balm.—Boil together ten fluid ounces olive oil, two fluid ounces Venice turpentine, and one ounce yellow wax; strain, and while still warm add, constantly stirring, two and a half drachms balsam of Peru and ten grains camphor.
Cure for Chilblain.—Make a strong lye by boiling wood ashes in water. Put your feet in a small tub and cover them with the lye as hot as you can bear it. Gradually add more lye, hotter and hotter. Keep them in half an hour, bathing and rubbing them continually, and being very careful to keep the lye hot. ”

“ The spruce comes out, together with all the balsam that the contractor can get by with. That skins the stand, but is not the worst of it. A lot of slash is left on the ground offering good material for a fire. If fire does not come the wind throws a lot of balsam. ”

“ In the presence of alcohol, yellow crystals of iodoform, which are readily recognized under the microscope by their form, collect on the bottom of the fluid. Adulteration with a volatile oil is recognized in the distillate by odor and taste.
Fat oil, Canada balsam, copaiba balsam, gurjun balsam, and volatile oil may be recognized by the following tests: If pure Peru balsam in a porcelain saucer is thoroughly mixed with an equal volume of pure concentrated sulphuric acid, the mixture thereby becomes heated, vapors of a pungent odor being emitted, and if then set aside to cool, it congeals. ”

“ We have succeeded in extracting it directly from the pods. This White Balsam, which is distinctly mentioned in the letter of Palacio in 1576 (see p. 206) , is a scarce and valuable article, never prepared for the market. A large jar of it was sent to Pereira in 1850; [811] Guzman [812] and Wyss state that it is known in the country as “Balsamito,” or “Balsamo catolico or Virgin Balsam.” [Pg 211]
A fragrant balsamic resin is collected, though in but very small quantity, from Myroxylon peruiferum Linn. f., a noble tree of New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. ”

“ Horstius saith, that in the whole Republick of Medicine, there is scarcely found an Apoplectick Balsam more illustrious for Fame, more noble for Virtue, more worthy for Honour, more ready for Help, and more fragrant for smell, than this. It chears and comforts all the spirits, natural, vital, and animal, by anointing the extremities of the Nostrils and the Pulses. ”

“ The balsam is obtained by making an incision in the tree, from which the sap exudes, and is absorbed by bunches of raw cotton. These, when thoroughly saturated, are thrown into vats of boiling water and replaced by others. The balsam leaves the cotton, rises to the surface of the water, and at intervals is skimmed off and placed in wooden bowls or{195} gourds, where it hardens, and then is wrapped in the leaves of the tree and sent to market. ”

“ Staminate flowering branchlet, × 1/2.
4. Staminate flower, enlarged.
5. Pistillate flowering branchlet, × 1/2.
6. Pistillate flower, enlarged.
7. Fruit, × 1/2.
[Pg 55]
SALICACEAE Hairy Balm of Gilead. Balsam Populus candicans Ait. [Populus balsamifera candicans (Ait.) Gray]
HABIT.—A tree 50-70 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 1-3 feet; more spreading branches than in P. balsamifera, forming a broader and more open crown.
LEAVES.—Resemble those of P. balsamifera, but more broadly heart-shaped and more coarsely serrate; more or less pubescent when young; petioles pubescent. ”

“ When burned, it produces a balsamic smell; by boiling the bark when fresh, it produces a very aromatic balsam, which, like the balsam of tolu is used in catarrh, spasmodic cough, ulcers, &c.
NOTE.—All these substances are indigenous in the province of Barbacoas. Popa and sandi are found in great abundance. Manteca de palo (oil, or literally butter of wood) , is obtained only from young trees which grow in the plains.
ON THE SODA-PYROPHOSPHATE OF IRON. BY ALEXANDER URE, ESQ., SURGEON TO ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL. ”

“ Several deep incisions are made with an axe into the trunk of the tree and a good-sized cavity scooped out. In this, fire is placed, and kept burning until the wood is somewhat scorched, when the balsam begins to exude, and is then led away into a vessel of bamboo. It is afterwards allowed to settle, when a clear liquid separates from a thick portion called the “guad.” The oil is extracted year after year, and sometimes there are two or three holes in the same tree. It is produced in extraordinary abundance ”

“ Liquidambar balsam is derived from Liquidambar styraciflua, a tree found in the United States and Mexico. It contains cinnamic acid, but not benzoic acid.
Of so-called balsams, entirely destitute of cinnamic and benzoic constituents, the following are found in commerce:—Mecca balsam or Balm of Gilead, from Commiphora opobalsamum, a tree growing in Arabia and Abyssinia, is supposed to be the balm of Scripture and the βάλσαμον of Theophrastus. When fresh it is a viscid fluid, with a penetrating odour, but it solidifies with age. ”