A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 34

What is Tar?

A coa.r.s.e, resinous liquor issuing from the wood and bark of pine or fir-trees; it is in fact the oily juices of the sap thickened and colored by the heat of the sun or by age; it is extracted for use by burning the wood of the trees under a heavy covering of turf or earth; the tar exudes during the slow combustion, and is collected into a cavity dug in the ground for the purpose. Tar is exported in great quant.i.ties from Norway, Sweden, and our Southern States.

What are its uses?

It is applied to the sides of s.h.i.+ps and boats and their rigging, to preserve them from the effects of the weather; it is used instead of paint for palings, &c.; and sometimes also in medicine. A kind, called _mineral_ tar, is also drawn from coal by the process of distillation.

Mineral tar is also found native in some parts of the earth.

What is Pitch?

A kind of juice or gum, likewise drawn from unctuous woods, chiefly those of the pine and fir; it is used for nearly the same purposes as tar in s.h.i.+pping, medicine, and various other arts. Pitch is properly a juice of the wild pine, or pitch tree; it is of a glossy black color, dry brittle, and less bitter and pungent than the liquid tar.

What is Camphor?

A vegetable substance, chiefly procured from a kind of laurel, (Laurus Camphora,) growing in Borneo, j.a.pan, and many East Indian islands; it is also produced from other plants and shrubs, though in very small quant.i.ties.

How, and from what part of the tree is it taken?

All parts of the tree are impregnated with camphor; but it is princ.i.p.ally extracted from the roots and trunk, by distillation; it is white, and of a crystal form: its odor is extremely fragrant. In this state it is called _rough_ camphor, and is thus exported. The Greeks and Romans do not appear to have been acquainted with this valuable drug; and we are indebted to the Arabians for a knowledge of it.

What are the properties and uses of Camphor?

It is a firm, dry, crystal matter, with a hot, sharp, aromatic taste.

It is highly odorous, and so inflammable as to burn and preserve its flame in water; it totally vanishes or evaporates in the open air, and in Spirits of Wine it entirely dissolves. Camphor has various uses--as in fire-works, &c.; it is an excellent preservative of animal and vegetable bodies, as it resists worms and other insects. In the courts of Eastern princes it is burnt at night with wax. Its princ.i.p.al use with us is in medicine.

_Preservative_, a preventive of decay.

What is Musk?

A dry, friable substance of a dark color, taken from a little bag under the belly of a small animal called the Thibet Musk, which is a native of the Indies, Tonquin, and China. It inhabits the woods and forests, where the natives hunt it down. Musk is so strong a perfume as to be agreeable only in the smallest quant.i.ties, or when mingled with some other scent; it is used in perfumery, &c.

Is there not another Animal which produces a similar scent?

Yes; an animal of Arabian origin produces an odoriferous substance called Civet, from which it takes its name of Civet Cat; there are several species of this animal which produce it, but it is from the Civet Cat that it is most commonly taken. Civets are found in all the warm parts of Asia and Africa, in Madagascar, and the East Indian Islands. It was formerly in high esteem, but is at present very little used, except to increase the power of other perfumes.

What is Myrrh?

A kind of gum-resin, issuing from the trunk of a tree growing in Arabia, Egypt, and Abyssinia; it flows either naturally, or by incision; and is sent to us in small lumps of a reddish brown or yellow color. Its smell is strong, but not disagreeable. Our myrrh is the same drug that was used by the ancients under the above name. Its chief use now is in medicine. The ancient Egyptians employed it as an ingredient in the embalming of dead bodies.

_Embalming_, preserving the bodies of the dead from decaying or putrefying, by impregnating them with aromatics and other substances which resist putrefaction.

Where is Abyssinia?

Abyssinia is a large kingdom situated in Eastern Africa.

What is Frankincense?

An odoriferous, aromatic gum-resin, which distils, in the heat of summer, from incisions made in the bark of the tree which produces it: notwithstanding the great use of the gum, both in ancient systems of religious wors.h.i.+p and in modern medicine, authors have been much divided in opinion with regard to the kind of tree from which it is obtained; it is a species of turpentine tree belonging to an order of resinous and fragrant trees and shrubs inhabiting the tropical parts of the world.

For what was it formerly used?

The ancients burnt it in their temples as a perfume, and to do honor to the divinities that were wors.h.i.+pped in them: it appears to have been applied to the same purposes by people of all religions. Myrrh and Frankincense were reckoned by the Eastern nations amongst their most costly perfumes. We are informed by St. Matthew's Gospel in the New Testament, that the wise men who came to Bethlehem to wors.h.i.+p our Saviour at his birth, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Many of the primitive Christians were put to death because they would not offer incense to idols. In the Catholic Church we still retain its use in many ceremonies.

_Primitive_, early.

_Incense_, perfumes burnt in religious rites, or as an offering to some deity.

What is the appearance of Frankincense?

It is generally imported in white or yellowish pieces, or drops, which possess a bitter, disagreeable taste; it is very inflammable, and burns with a strong, and pleasant odor. That brought from the Indies is inferior to that from Arabia, and inclines to a reddish color. The common frankincense is softer, more resinous, and possesses less value than the former.

What is Turpentine?

The resinous juice of many trees, as the pine, larch, fir, &c.; it is, in fact, the juice that renders them evergreen, and when in an over-abundant quant.i.ty, bursts through their bark, and oozes out.

Common turpentine is that procured by incisions from the wild pine; there are several kinds of turpentine procured from various resinous trees; some are of use in medicine, and most of them in making different kinds of varnishes, for preserving and beautifying boxes, paintings, &c.

_Ooze_, to flow gently.

Is there not a tree more particularly designated the Turpentine Tree?

Yes, the Terebinth or Turpentine Tree of Palestine and the East. It is one of the most common forest trees of those regions, and is regarded with respect and distinction similar to that awarded to the oak in England.

What part of it produces the Gum?

The gum, or rather the resin, distils from the trunk. It is called Cyprus or Chian Turpentine, much of it being brought from the isles of Cyprus and Scio, or Chios, and is procured, by incision, about the month of July. This turpentine, owing to its superior quality, as well as its scarcity, each tree seldom yielding over two or three pounds, is very costly.

_Incision_, a cutting.

_Costly_, expensive.