Ps, > L- x. eT ee eee ie me te el ee s 
TO gh Et ay tg ee Soe. lrg oe ek eee wg Oe, cee = oe a ee 
__ of worm wood and camphor. : 
COMPOSIT &. 953 
The Conyza odorata of Rumphius is considered by Roxburgh 
- to be B. balsamifera; the Baccharis salma of Loureiro is 
_ probably the same plant, and also the Planta Bantamica of 
Clusius (iv. 23), which was discovered by Colius in Batavia 
_ prior to the year 1619. Clusius states that it is used as a con- 
_ diment and as a remedy for colic, and in paralysis as a 
_ Stimulant fomentation or bath; given in decoction with the 
_ leaves of Vitex Negundo, Careya arborea and Citrus acida it 
produces copious perspiration. It is also used as a vermifuge 
_ and as an astringent in menorrhagia. Dr. Mason (Burmah, 
_ tts Peopleand Natural Productions, Lond., 1852,) mentions the 
_ manufacture of a camphor by the Tavoyers from B. densiflora, 
_ one of the most abundant weeds throughout the Tenasserim 
Provinces. Subsequently a Mr O’Riley of Amherst manufac- 
tured and purified more than 100 pounds of this camphor 
which was sent to Calcutta for trial, and pronounced to have 
% the same medicinal properties as ordinary camphor. In 1874, 
_ Hanbury (NV. Repert. f. Pharm. xxiii., 321,) pointed out that — 
this was the Ngai camphor mentioned by Rondot (Htude . 
Pratique du Commerce d’Hxportation de la Chine, Paris, 1848,) 
Which was worth 250 dollars the picul (133$ Ibs.) in China. 
Mr. Hanbury also obtained from Mr. F. H. Ewer of Canton a 
sample of Ngai camphor, and of the plant from which it was 
Manufactured in China (B. balsamifera); he also ascertained 
that the camphor was used in medicine by the Chinese and 
largely for the purpose of perfuming inks at the ink factories 
of Wei-chan and other places. 
' Description.—B. balsamifera is a large shrubby plant 
with an erect ligneous trunk, and branches covered with ash- 
coloured bark.’ Leaves alternate, short-petioled, lanceolate, 
irregularly serrate, and generally more or less pinnatifid at the 
base, downy, particularly underneath, where they are seri- 
cious and beautifully reticulated with numerous veins, from 6 to 
12 inches long ; petioles short, often with 1 to 4 small leaflets 
corymbs terminal, numerous, bearing many sub-cyli 
bright yellow flowers. (Roxburgh.) The plant smells 
s 
