fifntni). 



CAMPHOR 



< INNAMOMUM AND hi: Y<H< \I,ANOP8 SPECIES 



Two Forms 



i ho Malay IVnm-uln. Adams (Comment., 1'uulus JKgineta, iii., 427-0) 

 tin- i-iirlv int'. >rm.ition regarding camphor, and gays that Serapion ia the 

 authority who gives a full account of it. Isaac Eon Arnram, one of the 

 . liiotod by Serapion, furnishes a brief account of the method of refining, 

 MM. -tii-. illy that pursued at the present time. Lastly, Adams adds 

 Symt-on Seth is the only one of the Greek authors who treats of camphor 

 [For further information see Clnnamomum zeylanicum, pp. 313-6.] 

 i IK (')rta discussed in the 16th century the two chief forms of Camphor, 

 lose are : 



Clnnamomum Camphors, ftees and Eberm. ; Fl. Br. 2nd., v., 134; Grasmann, Japanese 

 tier Deutsch. Gesdlech., etc., Tokio, 1895, vi., 277-328; Ind. For., xix., and 

 ii., 469; Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 564; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 534; Formosan. 

 I ^ The Japan Camphor Tree. A moderate-sized evergreen tree, 



i\i' of China, Japan, Cochin-China and Formosa, much planted in India, 

 it grows admirably in suitable places. There are fine trees in the Botanic 

 as of Calcutta and Saharanpur ; it grows very well in Dehra Dun, and 

 thrives in the Nilgiris, even up to altitudes of 7,000 feet. 



This is by far the most important of the natural sources of camphor, and Production. 



ally constitutes a monopoly of the Japanese Government since the cession 

 tlit'in of Formosa, whence the largest quantity and best quality of camphor 

 derived. The production in 1900 is said to have been 134 tons in Japan, 

 tons in China, and 2,680 tons in Formosa. But it is affirmed that Japan has 

 lected an agreement with China whereby she exercises a preponderating 

 Juence over the export of camphor from Chinchew (Fukien) on the Chinese 

 land, which formerly shared the Indian and European trade with the 

 of Tost in Sikok (Japan) and the Eastern or aboriginal districts of 

 3rmosa. \Cf. Pickering, Pioneer. Formosa, 1898, 202, 220.] 

 For a description of various processes of refinement the reader may consult 

 article given in the Dictionary. Herren Tschirch and Shirasawa published 

 careful account of the formation of this camphor, and Bamber (Lecture 

 ly 14, 1906, delivered before the Ceylon Agricultural Society) gives particulars 

 the still that should be used. \Cf. Archiv. der Pharmacie, Berlin, 1902, 

 >. 46 ; Kew. Bull, 1899, 57-68 ; 1907, 88-90.] 



Dryobalanops aromatica, Gaertn., f. ; D. Camphora, Colebr., As. Res., 1816, Bornean 

 ii., 535-41 and pi. ; Gamble, Man. Ind. Timba., 69; DUTEBOCABPE^E. Bornean and 



Sumatran Camphor. A lofty tree, native of the north-west coast of Dutch Sumatran. 

 latra, North Borneo and Labuan. 



In the stem are formed coarse crystals which constitute the BABUS CAMPHOR Barns Camphor, 

 iled in Indian trade returns bhimsaini or baras. The crystals are often found 

 concrete masses in the heart of the tree, or in the knots and swellings where 

 branches issue, but camphor is also found beneath the bark. To obtain 

 product, which is valued by some of the Chinese at from 40 to 80 and even 

 times the price of ordinary camphor, the tree is destroyed and cut into 



splinters. An average tree is said to yield about 11 lb., but the old trees Old Trees Best, 

 the most remunerative, and only about 10 per cent, of those destroyed 

 ly repay the labour. This camphor is used by the Malays for embalming 

 for ritualistic purposes, and is well paid for. Probably the camphor first 

 )wn to the world was obtained from this tree, and not from < in, m ,<>,,,, 

 > i> ''>. \Cf. Fluckiger and Hanbury, Pharmacog., 458; Gildemeister and 

 sffmann, Volatile Oils, 370-7, 502.] 



Other Camphors are obtained from several plants, as for example thyme, Ngai 

 chouli, tobacco, etc., etc., but the production from these sources would Camphor, 

 not to be a paying industry. The widespread reputation of aitimen 

 t ifpi-n as a source of NGAI CAMPHOR is probably delusive, so far at least 

 In.liu and Burma are concerned, though the leaves would appear still to be 

 iployed for the distillation of a powerful camphor in Upper Tonkin. [Cf. 

 II., 1895, 275-7 ; 1896, 73 ; Bhaduri, Rept. Labor. Ind. Mus. (Indust. Sec.), 

 )2-3, 29; Bull. Econ. L'Indo-Chine, 1903, vi., n.s., 512.] 



Production. The camphor monopoly established by Japan had the Production, 

 lect of raising the price of the natural product, and this led to the 

 fairly successful synthetical fabrication of the commodity in America. Synthetical 

 It would be beyond the scope and purpose of this work to do more than 

 indicate the directions and possibilities of the camphor industry, and it 

 must suffice therefore to state that it can be and is being produced 



245 



