CAMPHOR. aon 
the bodies,of the dead. The rest is exported to China, Japan, 
and other places in Eastern Asia for similar purposes. It is 
heavier than the “ Laurel Camphor” and sinks in water. It has 
the odour of common camphor, mixed with something of an 
odour of patchouli. It is jess volatile than laurel camphor and 
rather harder. The best quality occurs in the form of flat colour- 
less crystals, the largest of which rarely exceeds half an inch 
across. An inferior quality is coarsely pulverulent and of a grey 
colour. Its chemical composition is C,)H,,O, that of laurel 
camphor being C,,H,,O. By the Chinese it is called Ping-peén. 
Common CaMPpHor. 
The camphor of European commerce is derived from Cinna- 
monum Camphora, Nees & Ebermaier (Laurus Camphora, Linn., 
Camphora officinarum, C. Bahn). 
The date at which the Chinese discovered the production of 
camphor from Laurus Camphora is unknown. The tree is distri- 
buted throughout the eastern provinces of Central China, on the 
island of Haiman, and very extensively in Formosa. It also 
occurs as a forest tree on the islands of Kiushiu and Shikoku of 
South Japan, its growth bemg much more vigorous there than in 
the more northern localities. This description is called “ Laurel 
Camphor ” or “Common Camphor ”’; it is the ordinary camphor 
of European commerce, and is produced almost exclusively from 
the Camphor Laurels of Formosa and Japan. 
The large and increasing quantities of this drug consumed in 
all civilized countries make the question of its continuous pro- 
duction and regular supply a matter of considerable importance. 
It is a well known fact that the sublimation of the crude camphor 
from the wood is conducted in a primitive, careless way which 
causes great waste. The Camphor Laurels of Formosa are 
gradually being destroyed under the careless system employed 
by the Chinese gatherers. In fact they have been entirely exter- 
minated along the sea-board, and the wood is now obtained from 
the forests along the frontier between the settlements of the 
Chinese and the inland mountainous regions still occupied by the 
aboriginal population. The camphor-gatherers are thus con- 
tinually exposed to the assaults of the natives, which interrupt 
the profitable prosecution of this industry. No attempts are 
