LAU 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



LAU 



23 



and bulk to the largest timber-trees, being frequently found 

 upwards of fifteen feet in circumference. Camphor is con- 

 sidered as one of the principal diaphoretics and antiseptics, 

 and as possessing a degree of anodyne or antispasmodic 

 power. It is a medicine of a subtile and penetrating nature, 

 and quickly diffuses itself through the whole habit : if taken 

 in a considerable quantity, it produces an uneasy sensation 

 in the stomach, though it does not heat the body so much 

 as might be expected from its taste; on the contrary, it often 

 rather occasions a sense of coolness. In acute diseases it 

 is given from a quarter of a grain, to one or two grains or 

 more, in conjunction with nitre, or other anti-inflammatory 

 medicines of the saline kind. Hoffman observes, that it 

 answers best on the approach of a crisis, or in the decline, 

 and that it should be used with caution during the height of 

 fever, where the heat is great and the skin dry; and the same 

 caution, he adds, should be observed in plethoric habits. 

 In chronical disorders it is used more freely, and sometimes 

 in conjunction with opium : it is considered as a corrector 

 of the irritating powers of cantharides. Camphor alone 

 has sometimes been known to cure that peculiar species of 

 spasmodic disorder, called St. Vitus's dance. Camphor is 

 also used in a dissolved state in spirit of wine, as an external 

 embrocation in rheumatic pains, paralytic numbness, &c. and 

 is also an ingredient in many other preparations. Hill says it 

 is sudorific, and works by urine, promotes the menses, and 

 is good in disorders of the bladder. Meyrick observes, that 

 it is an excellent medicine in low putrid fevers, especially 

 when combined with the dulcified mineral acids. A solu- 

 tion of it in rectified spirits of wine, in the proportion of an 

 ounce to a pint or thereabouts, is frequently applied success- 

 fully to bathe such parts as are affected with rheumatic 

 pains, the p*alsy, or sprains; and for dispersing swellings, 

 hard tumors, and inflammations, and stopping the progress 

 of mortification. It is also used in the form of an ointment 

 for burns, and eruptions of the skin. Taken in an over dose, 

 it occasions coldness of the extremities, giddiness, and pain 

 at the stomach ; the best remedy for which is an emetic, 

 or draught of vinegar. Camphor oil is a valuable domestic 

 medicine, much used by the Sumatrans in strains, swellings, 

 and in inflammations ; the particles, from their extreme 

 subtilty, readily entering the pores. It is not manufactured, 

 undergoes no preparation, and, though termed an oil, is 

 rather a liquid and volatile resin, without any oily quality. 

 To procure it, they make a transverse incision into the tree, 

 to the depth of some inches, and then cut sloping down- 

 wards from above the notch, till they leave a flat horizontal 

 surface; this they hollow out, till it is of a capacity to receive 

 a quart; they then put into the hollow a bit of lighted 

 reed, and let it remain about ten minutes, which acting as a 

 stimulus, draws the fluid to that part: in the space of a 

 night, the liquor fills the receptacle prepared for it, and the 

 tree continues to yield a smaller quantity for three successive 

 nights, when fire must be again applied ; but on a few repe- 

 titions, it is exhausted. Native Camphor, the capoor-bar- 

 roos of the Malays, is a production for which Sumatra and 

 Borneo have in all ages been much celebrated ; the Arabians 

 being at a very early period acquainted with its virtues. 

 Camphor, being of a dry nature, does not exude from the 

 tree, or manifest any appearance on the outside. The 

 natives, from long experience, know whether any is contained 

 within, by striking the tree with a stick ; in that case, they 

 cut it down, and split it with wedges into small pieces, find- 

 ing the Camphor in the interstices, in the state of a concrete 

 crystallization. Some have asserted that it is from the old 

 trees alone that this substance is procured, and that in the 

 VOL. ir. 68. 



young trees it is in a fluid state, called meenio capoor, or 

 Camphor Oil ; but this is a mistake. The same sort of 

 tree that produces the fluid, does not produce the dry 

 transparent flaky substance, nor ever would. They are 

 readily distinguished by the natives : many of the trees, 

 however, produce neither the one nor the other. It has 

 been generally supposed that the Chinese mix the Camphor 

 of Sumatra and Borneo with their own and the Japanese : 

 but the truth seems to be, that they purchase the former for 

 their own use, from an idea of its superior efficacy, and 

 export the latter, as a drug which they hold in no estimation. 

 It is certain that the common Camphor will evaporate 

 until it entirely disappears ; whereas, that of Sumatra and 

 Borneo, called Native Camphor, (though, doubtless, from its 

 volatility, it must be subject to some decrease,) does not ap- 

 pear to lose much in quantity by being kept. It is purchased 

 on the spot at the rate of six Spanish dollars the pound, or 

 eight dollars the catty, for the best sort, which sells at the 

 China market for about twelve or fifteen hundred dollars 

 the pecul of one hundred catties, or one hundred and thirty- 

 three pounds and a third : the traders usually distinguish 

 three degrees of quality, by the names of head, belly, and 

 foot, according to its purity and whiteness ; some add a 

 fourth sort, of extraordinary fineness, of which a few pounds 

 only are imported to Canton, and sell there at the rate o 

 two thousand dollars the pecul. The principal part of the 

 Camphor that is used in Europe, is prepared from this tree 

 in Japan ; the natives split the wood into small pieces, and 

 sublime or distil it with water in an iron retort, covered with 

 an earthen or wooden head, in the hollow of which they 

 fasten hay or straw, to which the Camphor adheres as it 

 rises ; it is brownish or white, but in very small semi-pellucid 

 grains : it is packed up in wooden casks, and forwarded to 

 India and Europe, where it is purified by a second sublima- 

 tion, and reduced into the solid mass in which we find it 

 in our shops. The wood of .this tree is much esteemed by 

 carpenters, being easy to work, light, durable, and not 

 liable to be injured by insects, particularly by the combang, 

 a species of bee, which, from its faculty of boring timber for 

 its nest, is whimsically called the carpenter. Native of 

 China, Japan, Borneo, and probably of Sumatra. In Europe 

 this tree is propagated by layers, which are generally two 

 yeais, and sometimes longer, before they take root; hence 

 the plants are very scarce, and in general males, so that 

 there can be no hopes of procuring seed from them. If the 

 berries of this, and also of the Cinnamon-tree, were pro- 

 cured from the places of their growth, and planted into tubs 

 of earth, as directed for the Sassafras-tree, there might be a 

 number of these plants procured in England ; and, if sent 

 to the British colonies in America, they might be there cul- 

 tivated so as to become a public advantage. The Portuguese 

 brought some of the Cinnamon-trees from the East Indies, 

 and planted them upon the Isle of Princes, on the coast of 

 Africa, where they now abound, overspreading great part 

 of the island. The Camphor-tree does not require any arti- 

 ficial heat in winter; so that, if it be placed in a warm dry 

 green-house, it will thrive very well. In winter it must be 

 sparingly watered, and in summer be placed abroad in a 

 warm situation, not too much exposed to the heat of the sun. 

 It may be propagated by laying down the young branches in 

 autumn. - 



4. Laurus Culilaban. Leaves triple-nerved, opposite. 

 Native of the East Indies and Cochin-china. 



5. Laurus Montana. Leaves triplcd-nerved, ovate-acu- 

 minate, perennial ; flowers raceme panicled. Native of 

 Jamaica. 



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