138 



increased to '62 percent, by better regulation of the steam pressure 

 and the condensing water. Tlie camphor had a slight smell of 

 eucalyptus, and was not so strong as ordinary camphor. The 

 leaves were quite fresh when distilled. 



Separate distillations were again made in August with fresh 

 leaves and twigs, and the green branches of about half inch to I 

 inch thick the former yielded "85 per cent, camphor, but the latter 

 a mere trace, both of camphor and oil. 



7th September, igoo. — Three distillations of camphor leaves from 

 Peradeniya were made in the usual manner, the yield from the first 

 being I '10 per cent, of camphor and camphor oil. In the second 

 distillation, when the leaves had partly dried, l'06 per cent, of 

 camphor and oil was obtained, calculated on the fresh leaves. In 

 the third distillation the leaves had undergone partial decompo- 

 sition, the result of becoming heated to a temperature of 106" F. 

 The yield in this case was '68 per cent, camphor and "38 per cent. 

 of oil, so that it would appear advisable to distil the leaves as 

 fresh as posssible, as the oil is less valuable than the camphor. 



gth October, igoo. — A sample of young camphor flush weighing 

 Ililb. plucked from two trees in Hakgala, one 8 feet in diameter 

 and 12 feet high, yielding 8 lb., and the other 5 feet in diameter 

 and 7 feet high, yielding 3^ lb. This was carefully distilled in a 

 copper retort over a lamp, and the vapour condensed in a glass 

 vessel. In the first four hours "63 per cent, of pure camphor was 

 obtained, which smelled only of pure camphor ; on further distil- 

 lation '08 per cent, more camphor was obtained, which did not 

 smell quite so pure. Heating by the direct llame beneath the ves- 

 sel appears to take longer in removing all the camphor than driving 

 it over with steam under slight pressure. 



24th October, igoo. — A distillation of camphor clippings from 

 Hakgala yielded .77 per cent! camphor and '27 per cent. oil. 



30th October, igoo. — A distillation of 12 lb. of camphor flush was 

 made in a copper vessel with a glass condenser, yielded "69 per 

 cent, camphor and "34 per cent, camphor oil. The trees were in 

 active growth when this flush was plucked. 



gth January, igoi. — A camphor tree that had become slightly 

 cankered was received from Hakgala in separate parcels of leaves, 

 branches, stem, and roots. Several distillations of the leaves and 

 twigs were made both in the fresh state and when air-dried, some 

 of them being continued for twelve hours. The yield of camphor 

 and oil varied somewhat, but appeared to depend on the propor- 

 tion of leaves to twigs, the latter containing much less than the 

 former. A glass condenser was employed for all these distillations, 

 the camphor and oil being obtained quite pure. 



The first experiment yielded '875 per cent, camphor and "986 

 per cent, oil, a far larger proportion of oil than in any previous 

 distillation of similar leaf. 



A second distillation, which was continued at a low tempera- 

 ture for eleven hours, yielded I '08 per cent, pure camphor and 

 0'32 per cent. oil. 



