126 FLORA HOMGOPATHICA. 
large branches, but is so highly prized by the Chinese that, 
according to Christison, it seldom reaches this country, that 
which is found here being the product of the Laurus Camphora.* 
A single tree will yield from eleven to twenty-two pounds ayvoir- 
dupois. The younger trees do not yield Camphor, but exude 
an oily substance when cut. 
The precise age when this tree begins to yield Camphor is 
not known; but the young trees yield an oil which has many 
of the properties of Camphor. The natives have a peculiar 
mode of tapping the trees to discover if Camphor exists in the 
interior. 
The trees are cut to the heart, about eighteen feet from the 
ground, until the Camphor is seen, and hundreds of trees may 
be mutilated before one is found containing sufficient quantity of 
Camphor to make it worth the labour of destroying so enormous 
atree. It has been asserted, on excellent authority, that some of 
these trees in the island of Labuan have been estimated at 250 
feet in height. When attained, it is felled and cut into pieces 
about six feet in length, which are again split, and the Camphor 
is found in the heart, occupying a space of the circumference 
of a man’s arm. The mode of procuring the Camphor from — 
the Laurus Camphora is as follows. 
In Japan, the roots and wood of the tree (Laurus Camphora) 
are chopped up and boiled with water in an iron vessel, to 
which an earthen head containing straw is adapted, the Cam- 
phor sublimes and condenses on the straw. 
In China, the chopped branches are steeped in water, and 
afterwards boiled until the Camphor begins to adhere to the 
stick used in stirring; the liquid is then strained, and, by 
nding, the Camphor concretes. Alternate layers of dry 
“earth, finely powdered, and of this Camphor, are then placed in 
coe — basin, to which another maverted one is luted, and 
SApration ‘effected. : a ee, 
cath ‘Ts a ndetiow thelseie; pie ie ne ae 
oe ra he purest ie given ee nse of he Laurus Camphor. 
