446 COMPOUND PRODUCTS. CHAP. I. 



the Myroxylon peruiferum, a tree which is found 

 in South America. It is extracted by boiling the 

 twigs in water, and put into cotoa-nut shells, in 

 which it is generally brought to Europe. It resem- 

 bles the balsam ofTolu in its chemical properties as 

 far as they have been hitherto examined, and is ap- 

 plied to the same medical purposes ; but its consis- 

 tency is less solid, and it is more easily volatilized 

 by beat. 



SECTION XVIII. 



Camphor. 

 How ob- THE substance known by the name of Camphor 



tained. . 



is the produce or the Laurus camphor at a, a tree 

 which grows in China and the islands of the East 

 Indies. It is obtained in the following manner : 

 The root and stem of the plant are cut into small 

 pieces and put into a large alembic furnished with a 

 capital and containing some water. When a suf- 

 ficient heat is applied the camphor sublimes into the 

 capital in the form of small greyish grains which 

 are united into larger masses by means' of friction. 

 In this state it is yet impure. But it is afterwards 

 refined by a second sublimation. 



Camphor, when pure, is a white brittle substance, 

 forming octagonal crystals or square plates. Its 

 taste is hot and acrid, its odour strong but aromatic., 

 its specific gravity 0-Q887** 



When broke into small fragments and put into 



* Thomson's Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 328. 



