CAMPHOR. 333 
CHAPD Ey DOV: 
CAMPHOR. 
Tue word Camphor is derived from the Arabic Kafir, which, in 
turn, was derived from the Sanskrit Kapira signifying a pure, 
white substance. The old English name for Camphor was spelt 
Camphire, and this word has evidently been used by mistake by 
the translators of the Bible in rendering into English the Hebrew 
word Kopher, which twice occurs in the “Song of Solomon” 
dG. 14 and iv. 13), and refers to the plant Hennah. The trans- 
lators have apparently confounded it with Kafir. 
Camphor, as it-was first known, was obtained from the land 
known as Kaistr, the present Sumatra, consequently was the 
substance we now know as Borneo Camphor, Malay Camphor, 
Baros Camphor, or Borneol, a substance which exists ready-formed 
in the pith-cavities of the trunk of the Dryobanalops Camphora, 
Colebrook (D. aromatica, Gaertner), a magnificent forest tree 
growing in abundance in Borneo *, and on the West and North- 
west coast of Sumatra, in forests generally less than 1000 feet 
above the level of the sea. It is found between Ayer Bangis and 
Singkel, and as far north as Bacongan and Barus. It is also 
found extensively on the small British island of Labuan. 
A few years ago a vast forest of these trees was found in Jahore, 
in the protected State of Perak (Straits Settlements), and is 
conserved by the Government. The tree is there known as Kayo 
Kapur and the camphor as Kapur baroos. It is said that all this 
camphor goes to China, where it is sold for more than its weight 
in silver (which is not surprising, as five dollars per ounce have been 
paid for specimens in Borneo). In Jahore the tree frequently 
attains a height of 150 feet, with a diameter of 6 or 7 feet at 
5 feet from the ground. 
* As, Res. xii. p. 537. 
