CANADA BALSAM • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Canada balsam

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/kˈænədə bˈɔlsəm/ Listen

Canada balsam

noun

Yellow transparent exudate of the balsam fir; used as a transparent cement in optical devices (especially in microscopy) and as a mounting medium.

Medium-sized fir of northeastern North America; leaves smell of balsam when crushed; much used for pulpwood and Christmas trees. Synonyms: Abies balsamea, balm of Gilead, balsam fir.

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"Canada balsam" Quotes from Famous Books

... make a varnish which would prevent reflection from the back of a photographic plate on to the film. I have had occasion to require to do the same when using a scale made by cutting lines through a film of black varnish on a slip of glass. This succeeded perfectly by making the varnish out of Canada balsam stained with ...

— On Laboratory Arts • Richard Threlfall

... Canada balsam," he cried. "Do you remember how I showed it to you first? And yonder the spruce. How stuck up your teeth were when you tried to chew the gum before it had been heated. Do you remember? Look! Look there! It's a white pine! Isn't it ...

— The Blazed Trail • Stewart Edward White

... Take of Canada balsam 3 drachms; gum sandric 3 drachms; spirits of wine 1/2 pint. Dissolve the balsam and gum in the spirits of wine and it ...

— Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets • Daniel Young

... have endeavored, by a series of experiments, to find out some means by which this opalescence might be got rid of in the most convenient manner. Cementing the transparency to a piece of plain, clear glass with Canada balsam, as suggested by Mr. Woodworth, I found in practice to be open to two formidable objections. One of these was that Canada balsam used in this manner is a sticky, unpleasant substance to meddle with, and takes ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 288 - July 9, 1881 • Various

... best I have tried is Canada balsam. My baths I have had in use five years, and have used them for exciting, developing hypo. and cyanide, and are as ...

— Notes and Queries, Number 208, October 22, 1853 • Various