Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-16
FOREST sPHARMACY
SOME REMEDIES AoT GENERALLY
KNOWN SAW TO wooDsxrn.
A Febrifuge Like Quinine From the
Pines of Canda-Pine Apple
of the North.

I.achine tCan.) Correspondence New York Sun.
LACHINE, Canada.-There is pharmacy
of the woods, and some of it's remedies are
of wonderful efficacy. Few people In the
outside world know that there is produced
in the pine woods tonic and feorifuge
greatly resembling quinine in taste and
efficiency. But the lumbermen know it and
owe much to Its properties when run
down in health after seven months of a
diet of pork and beans, bread, tea and
frozen pork.
The sovereign remedy in these cases is
pine apple. Up among the branches, near
to where dry twig shows that the great
tree has just passed its acme of growth,
a drab-colored fungus of rude conical
shape, generally about half as big as a
mans head. ciings to the bark. This is
the pine apple of the woods.
Some woodmen use it as a powder. chips
cut from it being dried at the fire and
rubbed down by hand. Others use an
infusion prepared by boiling. 1t is a fine
tonic, acts gently as a diuretic and scatters
feverishness rapidly. 1t produces violent
headache If used to excess, and it Is said
to bring on insanity If used for a long time
continuously.
Hemlock Bark.
Where a pine apple is not available.
hemlock bark is successfully used. The
bark is taken from a young vigorous tree.
shredded and boiled until the LIQUID be-
comes of a rich red brown color A large
spoonful of this is taken at mealtime
and acts as a tonic and purgatiye. That
this should be its effect is remarkable
considering that hemlOck bark contains SO
much astringent tannfn that 1t is greatly
used in the manufacture Of leather.
This is also the great "shanty' remedy
for horses.
When changes of weather are freouent
and the trapper or lumberman suffers from
a cough he seeks a remedy in a baisam
tree Upon the smooth bark are blisters
sometimes inches long. and within these
Is fragrant, thin gum. This contains
benZoic acid and resinous t,1rpentjne and
is a world-famed remedy where there is
raWness about the breathing APPARATUS
Balsam Is also often used for cuts or sores
and has much healing virtue.
Sarsaparilla.
Sarsaparilla. which is sort of half cousin
to ginseng, is well and favorabIy known
as cleasing and restorative agent The
roots are found growing in decayed wood,
are easily obtained, and have been used as
spring medicine and in the ceremonious
cleansings by the Indians from times i'm
Cedar oil Is a valuable liniment and as
a general pain killer had immense vogue
at one time among patent medicine men.
Guides and trappers still believe in it.
Every Woodsman is a Stanch believer in
the virtue of skunk's grease as an embro-
cation. = 81
Bears oil is often, mixed with a crude
kind of turpentineB distilled from the old
roots of pine stump, and 1t is considered
TO be OF great value when rubbed upon the
chest In cases of Inflammation of the lungs
or of pneumonia. I'm extreme cases
spoonful is administered no the sufferer \
A poultice of well-boiled Eastwood suck
ers is also highly recommended in cases
of lung trouble. The bark of slippery elm
is used in pulmonary troubles as substi-
tute for Irish MOSS and is really, when;
pr9peny prepared, IA good. nutritious and
palatable food.
Cherry Bark. 80.
A decoction of cherry bark and spruce
bark. boiled and STRANGELY is an old Indian
remedy for coughs, whfcn has been largely
sold under various names for years by ven-1
ders of patent medicines. The white trap
per nowadays dissoives spruce gum In al
cohol. adds certain proportion of the
spirits to the bark mixture and sweetens
the whole with maple sugaR, Perhaps the
most experienced chemist could not pre-
pare better ecoughi syrup than this makes.
The great specific in cases of incipient
cholera is a strong tea made from black
berry bush roots, fortified with spirits,
and made very sweet. 20
For scratches, chapped hands and other
sores woodland science furnishes the most
grateful ointment to be found anywhere
1t is delightfully."- fragrant, mild sweet and
Of speedy action. 1t is made from the
sum-laden buds of the whitewood or pop
ar, which is often called from its value
is provider of VI guent the Balm of Gill
cad tree. The buds are boiled down with
teers fat in proper proportion, and little
money is added the mass cools. That
Nothing finer in its way has ever been dis
covered is the common verdict of all who
nave ever made use of it.