568 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



Petioles short. Stipules in 

 pairs, subulate, caducous. Pe- 

 rinnth one-leaved ; five-parted, 

 persistent. 



Capsule superior, ovate, woody, 

 fibrous, finel}'^ streaked with longi- 

 tudiqal furrows, embraced at the 

 base by the calycine hemisphe- 

 rical cup and surrounded by its 

 enlarged leaflets, which are con- 

 verted into remote, foliacrous, 

 spatulate, rigid, reflex wings ; 

 one-celled, three-valved. 



Seed solitary, conform to the 

 cavity of the capsule. Litegu- 

 »we?2^simple, thin, membranaceous, 

 thickened along one side and 

 thence penetrating to the axis, 

 and continued between the in- 

 terior fold of the cotyledons. 

 Perisperm none. Embryo con- 

 form to the seed, inverse, milk- 

 white. Cotyledons two, unequal, 

 almond-fleshy, thick, chrysaloid- 

 contortuplicate ; the exterior one 

 larger, convolute, and cherishing 

 the interior one, smooth without, 

 wrinkled within ; the interior one 

 Jnudi smaller, wrinkled on both 

 sides, uniform or round cordate 

 (as is the exterior one, if its folds 

 be expanded). Plumule simple, 

 conical, two-leaved. Radicle 

 Bear the summit towards the back, 

 columnar, a little curved and 

 ending in a short conical tip ; 

 ascending. 



The seed has a strong tere- 

 binthine fragrance. 



The following particulars con- 

 cerning the extraction of the 

 camphor, were communicated by 

 Mr. Prince, resident at Tapa- 

 nooly, to Doctor Roxburgh. 



" This tree grows sponta- 

 neously in the forests, and is to 

 •be found in abundance from the 

 back of Ayer Bongey, as fer 



north as Bacongan, a distance of 

 two hundred and fifty miles. It 

 may be classed among the tallest 

 and largest trees that grow on 

 this coast ; several within daily 

 view measuring six or seven feet 

 diameter. Before it acquires 

 such dimensions its age is con- 

 jectured to be years ; but it will 

 produce camphor at a much 

 earlier period when the tree does 

 not exceed two and two and a 

 half feet in diameter. The same 

 tree which yields the oil, would 

 have produced camphor if unmo- 

 lested, the former being supposed 

 to be the first stage of the latter's 

 forming, and is consequently 

 found in younger trees. The 

 natives have no certain means of 

 ascertaining the tree which pro- 

 duces either the one or the other, 

 although there are some men 

 styled Toongoo Nyr Cappoor 

 who pretend to that knowledge, 

 but they cannot give any reasons 

 for their judgment beyond favor- 

 able dreams, which superstition 

 has rendered infallible: and it 

 must be admitted that the suc- 

 cess of this description of peo- 

 ple, in discovering and procuring, 

 is greater than the majority of 

 those who go in search of the 

 camphor. The distinction may 

 have arisen from the peculiar 

 favor of fortune to some indi- 

 viduals over others, as in most 

 other circumstances of life from 

 whence they have acquired a 

 celebrity, otherwise they could 

 give some rational explanation of 

 their superior success. Both oil 

 and camphor are found in the 

 heart of the tree, occupying a 

 vacuum, which, in others, is 

 frequently filled with pitch ; but 

 it does not extend to the whole 



length; 



