o 



12 LAURACE^ 



the 9th century, and Ibn Khurdadbah, a geographer of the same peviod, 

 were among the first to point out that camphor is an export of the 

 Malayan Arcliipehigo ; and their statements are repeated by the 

 Arabian writers of the middle ages, who all assert that the best 

 camphor is produced in Fansiir. This place, also called Kansur or 

 Kaisur, was visited in the 13th century by Marco Polo, who speaks of 

 its camphor as selling for its weight in gold; Yule \believes it to be 

 the same spot as Barus, a town on the western coast of Sumatra, still 



giving a name to the camphor produced in that island. 



From all these facts and many others that might be adduced,- it 

 undoubtedly follows that the camphor first in use was that found 

 native in the trunk of the Sumatran Dryohalanops aromatica, and not 

 that of the Camphor Laurel. At what period and at wdiose instigation 

 the Chinese bes^an to manufacture camidior from the latter tree is not 



nown. 



Camplior was known in Europe as a medicine as early as the 12th 

 century, as is evident from the mention of it by the abbess Hiklegard'^ 

 (who calls it ganphora), Otho of Cremona/ and the Danish canon 

 Harpestreng (oh. a.d. 1244). 



Garcia de Orta states (1563) that it is the camphor of China which 

 alone is exported to Europe, that of Borneo and Sumatra being a 

 hundred times more costly, and all consumed by eastern nations. 

 They partly devoted the latter to ritual purposes, as for instance 

 embalming, partly to "eating," i.e. for the preparation of the betel- 

 leaves for chewing. Neuhof ^ states that the other ingredients used in 

 China for that purpose are: Areca nuts (see article Semen Arecte) and 

 lime or Lycium (see page 35), CapJair de Burneo, aloe [i.e. Aloe- 

 wood, see Aloe), and musk. Kampfer,' who resided in Japan in 

 1G90-92, and who figured the Japanese camphor tree under the name 

 Lauras camiAorifera, expressly declares the latter to be entirely 

 different from the camphor tree of the Indian Archipelago. He further 

 states that the camphor of Borneo was among the more profitable 

 commodities imported into Jajian by the Dutch, whose homewai-d 

 cargoes included Japanese camphor to the extent of G,000 to 12,000 It) 

 annually/ This camphor was refined in Holland by a process long 

 kept secret, and was then introduced into the market. In Pomets 

 tmie (1694 and earlier), crude camphor was common in France, but it 

 had to be sent to Holland for purification. 



It is doubtful whether at that period, or even much later, anV 

 camphor was obtained from Formosa. Du Halde^ makes no allusion to 

 it as a production of that island ; nor does he mention it amon 

 commodities of Emouy (Amoy), which was the Chinese port then m 

 most active communication with Formosa. 



Production— The camphor of European commerce is produced m 



282'^285^°°^* ''■^''^"' ^^'"'"' ^"^"^ "• ^^^^^^ ' Chotilant, Macer Florkliis, Lips- l^^i 



0- the, 



- For further historical details, compare ■' Ofmntscha/f, etc Amster.lam, lt><' • 



oi ^ &'■ ^¥^"^"f, 27 Sept. , 4 and 11 « J nKruHcUes exotlae (1712) 770. 



P;L ^•' ''' '^- ^^"'^^ner's Hepertorium f. Ulhf. ofJapon, translated by Scheucl«cr, 



//an,^a.,xvu.(lSG8)28.-F.A. F. i. (1727) ;^5.S. 370. . ,,..,, id 



b. Hddegar.h9 Opera Omnia, accurante » De^npiion de la Chine, i. (1 z"^) '"'• 



J. i: Migue, Tans, 1855. 1145. 



