THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



47 



the author looked steadily for a period 

 (in the second experiment) of 20 minutes, 

 concentrating his thoughts meanwhile 

 wholly upon the image of the object he 

 had been previously fixing. During the 

 substitution of the plate for the last ob- 

 ject, the observer's eyes were closed. The 

 plate was then developed in the ordinary 

 way, and reproductions of the psycho- 

 grams are given in the journal. In the 

 first case, in which a shilling was the 

 test object, the print shows an ill defined 

 circle on the plate, and in the second, 

 when a postage stamp was employed 

 (and a larger plate used than before), 

 "two impressions were obtained, one 

 from each eye, and at respectively the same 

 distance from each other as the eyes." 

 These impressions (in the reproduction), 

 according to the British Medical Journal, 

 bear a distinct resemblance to a postage 

 stamp. These latter experiments, or sim- 

 ilar experiments, can be carried out by 

 any one with a little assistance. — Amer. 

 Dr7iz & Pharm. Record. 



HOW CAflPHOR IS CULTIVATED IN 

 FORMOSA. 



One of the principle products of the 

 territory which has come under Japanese 

 administration as a result of the war with 

 China is camphor. In the Scottish Geo- 

 graphical Magazine, Mr. John Dodd, 

 writing on Formosa, tells us how this 

 product was cultivated. 



" Small shanties are scattered over the 

 hills where the camphor trees grow, and 

 in all directions the clearing of the woods 

 is going on at a rapid rate. Some trees 

 are cut up for camphor making, others 

 are sawn into planks and knees for the 

 building of junks and boats of all de- 

 scriptions. On the hill sides are build 

 distilleries consisting of oblong shaped 

 structures, principally of mud bricks, 

 and about 10 to 12 feet long, 6 feel broad 

 and 4 feet high. On each side are 5 to 10 



fire holes about a foot apart and the same 

 distance above the ground. On each fire 

 hole is placed an earthen pot full of 

 water, and above it a cylindrical tube, 

 about a foot in diameter and 2 feet high, 

 passes up through the structure and ap- 

 pears above it. The tube is capped by 

 a large inverted jar, with a packing of 

 damp hemp between the jar and cylinder 

 to prevent the escape of steam. The 

 cylinder is filled with chips of wood 

 about the size of the little finger, which 

 rest on a perforated lid covering the jar 

 of water, so that when the steam rises it 

 passes up to the inverted jar, or con- 

 denser, absorbing certain resinous mat- 

 ter from the wood on its way. While 

 distillation is going on an essential oil is 

 produced and is found mixed with the 

 water on the inside of the jar. When 

 the jar is removed the beady drops solidi- 

 fy, crystallization commences, and cam- 

 phor in a crude form, looking like newlj* 

 formed snow, is detached by the hand, 

 placed in basked lined with plantain 

 leaves, and hurried ofi to the nearest bor- 

 der town for sale. 



"With regard to camphor, as in other 

 commercial matters, the Chinese gov- 

 ernment has acted very foolishly. For 

 over 30 years, to my knowledge, there has 

 been a constant demand for camphor and 

 yet the administration has done nothing 

 to prevent the reckless waste of the for- 

 ests and taken no steps to provide for the 

 reafforestation of uninhabited tracts un- 

 less for cultivation. True, as far as I 

 have explored the mountains of the in- 

 terior, camphor trees seem to be exceed- 

 ingly numerous and, there is at present 

 no fear that the supply will run short for 

 many years to come. But the increased 

 demand for camphor in these days of 

 smokeless powder may hasten the de- 

 struction of the trees, and therefore it is 

 to be hoped that the Japanese will assure 

 the supply in the future by planting 



