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Canada balsam, also called canada turpentine or balsam of fir, is a turpentine which is made from the resin of the balsam fir.
It is the fir's resin, dissolved in essential oils, and is a viscous, sticky, colourless (sometimes yellowish) liquid, that turns to a transparant yellowish mass when the essential oils have been allowed to evaporate.
Due to its high optical quality and purity it is mainly used in optics as glue for glass, e. g.
- in biology to conserve microscopic samples (The sample is sandwiched between the microscope slide (a glass plate) and the cover plate (a small thin glass plate) and canada balsam is used to glue the arrangement together and enclose the sample to conserve it)
- in optical technology to glue together optical elements such as two prisms to form a beam splitter
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