Pine Pitch question

[Guest guest]

Does anyone here have any experience with using some of our native

resins: pine, balsa fir, spruce, etc. in lieu of myrhh? Myrhh has a

history of medicinal use going back thousands of years but I'm finding

very little about our native pitches here in north america.

One interested write up on using balsam fir resin to treat burns

had both experiential (i.e. that's what the canadian bush indians used)

and medical research to back it up. One account was of a woman on a

trip into the bush severly burned her arm and the natives there coated

it with balsam sap, saying that's what they always used. When she got

back to civilization and went to the hospital to get it checked out,

the medico's freaked out at the " unsanitary wound treatment " . Anyone

who has worked with fir knows the stuff goes on and stays on and it

looks quite dirty. She healed up without any scarring and that sparked

some university up there to do some followup research. It was about 3

years ago I read this and I forget the exact specifics but basically it

worked better than what the hospitals used for burn wound management.

Growing up we would chew spruce gum right off the tree as a

chewing gum. I suspect the essential oils in the resin would do

wonders for keeping one's teeth clean and healthy after one gets done

with picking the resin off of it. I bet it has other properties as

well.

My grandfather's brother, a Maine guide, carried pine tar on a

stick in his repair kit. Not only would he use it to repair canoes,

he'ld light the end to melt the pitch and apply it to wounds (not too

hot!) as a antiseptic-heal quickener.

I'ld be interested in hearing if anyone on the list has used

pitches or knows of anyone who does.