I ho admixture of a due proportion of powdered liquorice root, forms a good electuary. Its use in diseases
of the kidney's originating from ulcerations and obstructions 1 in those organs, is unquestionable; which is
perhaps more than can he said of its a I lodged virtues in other complaints, and of those there are many for
which medical writers of different ages have extolled the advantages of exhibiting turpentine. Cheyne
recommends it as a perfect cure for sciatica', but, if I may be allowed to offer the result of my own professional
experience, its effects are in few instances successful for the removal of that tormenting disease; and
even those cases which T have seen cured, under the use of oil of turpentine, appeared to be rather of the
symptomatic than of the idiopathic kind. It is reasonable to presume that the sciatic nerve, from its origin
and course, may owe some of its morbid affections to an obstructed ureter, as well as to a rheumatic diathesis.
In watching the state of the urinary excretion after the exhibition of turpentine, in more than one case
of what is commonly called sciatica, I have actually witnessed considerable changes produced in it, and
ascertained the pain about the hip to he mitigated according to the increased presumption of altered
action in the ureter. The efficacy of Oleum Terebintliince as a styptic has been spoken of by some practitioners,
but I have not myself witnessed any decided advantages produced by it, anil, from having much
more reason to confide in other medicines of that class, of late I have ceased to employ it; though, in uterine
discharges attending cold, enfeebled habits, the more stimulative preparations of turpentine may certainly
be exhibited with more safety than in the generality of diseases for which they are said to be calculated.
As a diaphoretic, in rheumatic and gouty complaints, there are not wanting authorities for the employment
of this medicine, but, in modern practice, it is rarely resorted to. Neither have the solvent effects w hich
it has been said to produce (and which seem to have been inferred only from what is known to take place
out of the body) on biliary calculi received much attention in the present day. In Germany, Norway, and
some parts of the Russian empire, the essential oil of the Pine is frequently used as a remedy for lesions of
tendons, and for bruises in general. In England, this remedy has repute principally among farriers, but the
recommendations of authors so distinguished as Heister, Platner, and Plenck, certainly entitle it to more
frequent trial in chirurgical cases.
But the use of the oil of turpentine is not confined to medicine. It is much employed by the painters
for rendering their colours more fluid; and the concrete resins are usually dissolved in it when they are to
be converted into varnishes.
C O M M O N R E S IN .
CResina arida Tinea.)
ResinaJlava. Pharm. Lond.
Is the residuum of the process for obtaining the essential oil. This process pushed as far as the nature of
the substance will admit of changes the colour to a deep brown or black, when the resin acquires the
name of
B L A C K R E S IN , or C O L O PH O N Y ." 1
Resina nigra.
T h e medicinal properties of these two kinds of resin are, of course, extremely similar. They are rarely
used internally, but for external purposes (particularly as plasters) they can scarcely be dispensed with,
1 The best formula for preparing such an electuary is given in the pharmacopoeia of Stockholm, which directs half an ounce of the oil to be
mixed with one ounce of the best honey and as much liquorice powder as will make the whole of a proper consistence.
k I remember a remarkable case of hydatids formed in the kidneys, which came under my care in the Westminster Hospital, and which was
very materially relieved by Oleum Terebintluiue given in the dose of about eight drops every four hours. The expulsion of the hydatids seemed
to be owing principally to the medicine, for, if the latter was omitted for a few days, the pain of the loins, dysuria, and general distress increased;
and on resuming it, these symptoms were immediately alleviated whilst the hydatids were voided in augmented numbers.
1 Essay on the Gout, (ed. 10 ) p. 119.
ra I know not how this word came to be applied to the hard resin artificially extracted. It was originally the appellation of a raw liquid resin
brought from Colophon, in Ionia, which is described by Dioscorides, (Lib. 1. c. 77.) Galen (de Comp. Med. Lib. 7.) and Pliny, (Lib. 14. c. 20.)
Celsus allows the choice of either the Resina Colophonia, or the Resina Pinea, in the composition of his discutient plasters. Scribonius mentions
Colophony as a purgative, (c. 137.)
7 i
being remarkable for tbeir adhesiveness, especially when mixed with other materials. Being deprived ol the
essential oil, these resins do not produce the same stimulating effects as other preparations, and may be
considered as possessing astringency without pungency.
Colophony is of considerable use in the arts. It enters into the composition of several varnishes, and is
sometimes substituted for sandarach. Musicians rub the bows and strings of violins with it, in order to take
off the more greasy particles, as well as to counteract humidity.
T A R .
(Pix liquida Pinea.)
ntffa, tienr« vypx, Ku.c; of the Greeks.
Pix liquida, of the Romans, and of most modern Pharmacopoeia:.
Goudron, of the French.
T h is well known substance,- obtained from the roots and other parts of old Pines by a sort of d is tllla tio
p e r d e scen sum , differs from the native resinous juice in having acquired a disagreeable empyreumatic quality
from the action of the fire, and in containing the saline and mucilaginous parts of the tree mixed with the
extractive and the oily. The Scotch Pine is the species from which most of the Tar used in tins country is
procured, and perhaps yields it equally good with its congeners. It is curious to remark how little the
process employed in many countries differs from that which was followed by the ancient Macedonians, and
which is circumstantially described by Theophrastus, in the third chapter of his ninth book, where he tells
us that the billets were placed erect beside one another, and that they were afterwards covered with turf to
prevent the flame from bursting forth, in which case the tar was lost. The stacks were sometimes, he says,
one hundred and eighty cubits in circumference, and sixty, or even one hundred, in height." I hese huge
heaps of wood being set on fire, the tar was made to flow from them in channels cut for that purpose. s
all the trees of this genus yield the same substance when treated in a similar way, it is probable that the
ancients did not confine themselves to one species for obtaining it, any more than the moderns, and that some-
variety was occasioned in the product according to the different management of the fire, and the cooling.
Hence arises the confusion, and the difference of opinion among commentators respecting the terms Ge d n u ,
Cedmleon, P m c e le o n , &c. which, after the most industrious collation of passages from Theophrastus Dios-
corides Galen, and Pliny, it is scarcely possible at this day to refer to the precise substances which they
were intended to designate. But, we shall now proceed to point out the mode of procuring tar which
Duhamel- states to have been practised in the Valais, and which seems to be the best that has been
adopted ^ cut down the p ines intended to be burnt for ihe extraction of Tar, in the course of the
summer. The operators, knowing the quantity that will be wanted, regulate the extent of the hewing and
tearing up of the trees so as that the materials may be neither too green nor too dry at the time of preparing
their ovens, for, to make good tar, they should not be more than half dry. As all parts ol the Pine (the
(r„„k branches, and even the bark) yield this substance, the branches are cut of a length proportionate to
the size of Hie oven, and the thicker parts chopped into little billets similar to what are used aggots.
The ovens are shaped like an egg placed on its smaller end, and are composed of earth and stone, he floor
beino- formed of one or more pieces of freestone, which are very nicely joined and hollowed like the ms de
of an ego-shell. On one side there is a hole about an inch and a half in diameter, and six inches ,n depth,
to the external orifice of this, and five or six inches higher than the bottom of the oven, a gun barrel of a
large caliber is affixed, and there is a large iron grate placed at the bottom of the oven. 1 he dimensions of
the oven vary according to the quantity of wood intended to be burnt, the largest being about ten feet hig ,
■ As a summary definition of Tar, the words of Pliny perhaps cannot be improved. - Par M ( - J - ^ »"»» —
> , ' “ o H X * w. *w v , « 4 « >■ lE».™, . a . . f*»- “ p™
: G l u t t i n g the work of John Conrad Ax.ins, (enti.ied, - Tractates de J * * » C o ^ rU « pee
tona. 1679. 12“) which contains much curious matter on this subject, as well as on the products of Pines m general.
2 O