PRODUCTS AT THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 415 
The explanation is, no doubt, to be found in a passage in Han- 
bury's *Science Papers' (p. 393), who quotes from Rondot * :— 
“There exists also another sort of camphor, extremely white, 
which is extracted from the leaves of a plant known in China 
under the name of Ngai, a variety of Artemisia.” Substantially 
the same account is given by Porter Smith T. Hanbury further 
adds (p. 395) :—“ The camphor is used not only in medicine, but 
also in the manufacture of the scented kinds of Chinese ink." 
The specimen sent by Mr. Frater is not white, but greenish 
grey, which may be due to defective purification. I can, how- 
ever, scarcely doubt that it is identical with Ngai camphor, of 
Which a specimen previously existed in the Kew Museum ; this 
Hanbury attributes to Blumea balsamifera, DC. 
It is interesting to notice that, according to Kurz (‘ Forest 
Flora of British Burma,’ vol. ii. pp. 82, 83), Blumea balsamifera 
is abundant in our Indian possessions. He describes it as “an 
evergreen shrub, sometimes growing out into a small tree." 
He further remarks :—“ A most common and troublesome weed, 
freely springing up in deserted toungyas and savannahs, along 
river-sides, &c. all over Burmah, up to 3000 feet elevation ..... 
Yields camphor equal to the Chinese one.” 
* * Etude pratique du commerce d'exportation de la Chine’ (Paris, 1848). 
t * Contributions towards the Materia Medica and Natural History of China,’ 
1871, p. 25. 
