CAMPHOR A. 513 



the island of Formosa and in Japan, We have no evidence that any is 

 manufactured at the present day in China, although very large trees, 

 often from 8 to 9 feet in diameter, are common, for instance in 

 Kiangsi, and camphor wood is an important timber of the Hankow 

 market. 



In Formosa, the camphor-producing districts lie in the narrow belt 

 of debateable ground, which separates the border Chinese settlement'^ 

 from the territory still occupied by the aboriginal tribes. The camphor 

 is prepared from the wood, which" is cut into small chips from the trees, 

 by means of a s;oao-e with a lone: handle. In this process tliere is 



great waste, many trees being cut and then left with a large portion 

 of valuable timber to perish. The next operation is to expose the 

 wood to the vapour of boiling water, and to collect the camphor which 

 volatilizes with the steam. For this purpose, stills are constructed thus : 

 —a long wooden trough, frequently a hollowed trunk, is fixed over a 

 furnace and protected by a coating of clay. Water is poured into it, 

 and a board perforated with numerous small holes is luted over it. 

 Above these holes the chips are placed and covered with earthen pots. 

 A fire having been lighted in the furnace, the water becomes heated, and 

 the steam passing through the chips, carries with it the camphor, which 

 condenses in minute whfte crystals in the upper part of the pots. From 

 these it is scraped out every few days, and is then very pure and clean. 

 Four stills, each having teii pots placed in a row over one trougdi, arc 

 generally arranged under one shed. These stills are moved from time to 

 time, according as the gradual exhaustion of timber in the locality 

 renders such transfer desirable. A considerable quantity of camphor is 

 however manufactured in the towns, the chips being conveyed thitliei 

 from the country. A model of a much better still, which was con- 

 tributed from Formosa to the Paris Exhibition in 1878, is perhaps 

 reierring to a town manufacture. . . ^ . e 



Camphor is brought from the interior to Tamsui, the chietj^ortoi 

 Formosa, the baskets holding about half a pecul each (l pecul _ i-w^ 

 lbs.), lined and covered with large leaves. Upon arrival, it is stoiea in 

 vats holding from 50 to GO peculs each, or it is packed at once in tne 

 tuhs, or lead-lined boxes, in which it is exported. From the %ats 



or tubs there drains out a yellowish essential oil k^^^^^^^^XTnlic 

 Oil, which is used by the Chinese in rheumatism.' In 18/7 l^y'J^*: 

 pressure has been established for the separation of the oil and moisture , 

 the raw camphor loses about 20 per cent, of these admixtuies 

 ^ Kampfer in his account"^ of the nmnufacture of camphoi m t e 

 Japanese province of Satzuma and in the islands of Gotho, de cribes the 

 Wling of the chips in an iron pot covered with ^^^f ^J;I;^!^^J';7f 

 containing straw in which the camphor collects. In f ^ pio^i 

 Tosa, islaSd of Sikok, there is now a still in use, which 1^/1"^^^^^^^^ 

 vcniently combined with a cooling apparatus consisting ot a wooa 

 trough, over which cold water is flowing.* 



;The foregoing particulars are clnefly the Geo<jr Magc^ie, 1877, 26.3 ami 319. 



extracted from the Trade Report oframmi ^ gj;,f of^'the"abovc mentioned . BtiUs 



»y U O. Tauitor, Acting Connnissioner of ^oUi oi ^ „red in my 



Customs, published in the Reports on Trade from Sik< k f^J^^'^^^jf^^iniftrm," A rchlv 



^' the Treat!, Ports in China for 18G0. V ^P^^if^'H ■879)12. --F. A. F. 



Shanghai, 1870, and from .Tames Morrison's der Pliarmaae, -14 {IN •') 



JJ<'^ern,aon of the i.^land of Formosa, in 



2 K 



