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must be taken when opening it not to become scalded. When 

 completed, probably in 3 to 4 hours the door at the bottom of the 

 still is opened, the primings removed and the still recharged 

 from the top. All water in the pan, which contains much 

 tannin, &c, in solution, is changed by opening the overflow 

 plug and pouring in a fresh quantity through the supply tube. 

 During distillation it is necessary to occasionally add some 

 water to the pan to maintain a constant level and prevent burning. 

 To save time it would be best to have two stills connected with 

 the condensers, as with many citronella grass stills, since the one 

 could be filled, while the other distillation was proceeding" ; the 

 latter could then be allowed to cool down before opening, without 

 a loss of time. To preserve the heat in the top of the still and 

 ensure the camphor passing away readily, the still should be 

 thickly coated with clay or other non-conducting material, the 

 Japanese method being to surround the still with cane work and 

 ram clay into the space between. 



When a condenser is seen to contain sufficient camphor, it 

 should be opened, and the camphor carefully scraped out, every 

 precaution being taken to keep it free from dirt or fragments of 

 any description, otherwise re-distillation would be necessary if the 

 best price is to be obtained. A wooden scraper should be used, 

 contact with metal being avoided as far as possible while in the 

 moist condition. 



The camphor should be placed in a well made box like a tea 

 chest, having a perforated false bottom 4 or 5 inches from the 

 actual bottom, and the top perfectly closed. In a few days most 

 of the oil will have drained into the lower portion of the box, 

 which should be zinc-lined, and the dry camphor can be removed, 

 and carefully packed in zinc-lined cases for despatch. 



By reducing the camphor oil to a low temperature fully 50 to 60 

 per cent, of solid camphor separates out, and can be removed with 

 a cloth strainer and well drained, the temperature being kept as 

 low as possible while the excess of oil is draining away. 



Should any of the camphor be accidentally discoloured, it should 

 be thrown back into the still with a subsequent charge of primings 

 for re-distillation. 



The question of purification by sublimation with distillation of 

 the oil for the production of safrol, white oil, and other products 

 will be fully gone into in the circular previously referred to, and 

 need not be discussed here. The chief uses of camphor are for the 

 manufacture of celluloid, smokeless explosives, fireworks, &c, and 

 medicinally in the treatment of influenza, dysentery and cholera. For 

 the latter disease, it was used most successfully in Naples in 1854, 

 all the cases treated recovering, and it was employed with equal 

 success in Liverpool in 1866. Any outbreak of influenza increases 

 consumption at once, but the chief demand is for the manufacture 

 of smokeless powders and celluloids ; it is also said to be 

 employed in one of the numerous rubber substitutes now 

 manufactured. 



