56 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[March 1, 1892. 



growing readily from cuttings. It has been introduced 

 into the West Indies, and is there Icnown as Jamaica 

 Mignonette. The perfume of the flowers is rather that of 

 a mixture of rose and mignonette. Acids destroy the dye 

 yielded by the leaves, but alkalies and infusions of 

 astringent plants deepen it ; although this juice stains 

 the epidermis, it does not communicate any colour to 

 cloth. 



The name of the white crystalline substance com- 

 monly known as Camphor is derived from the Arabic 

 word " Kafur,"' which in its turn was derived from 

 the Sanskrit word " Kapura," signifying (c/iffc, or a pure 

 substance. 



The old English name for Camphor was spelt Cidiiphiiy, 

 and as the translators of the Bible may have been un- 

 acquainted with the botany and natural history of the 

 plant Heuuah, they may have confounded the Hebrew 

 word " Copherim," or " Kopher," with the Arabic word 

 " Kafur." This is pure surmise, but evidently the word 

 " Hennah " should be substituted for the word "Camphire" 

 in the Song of Solomon. Moreover, there is no record 

 of the substance Kiifiir, or Kiipura, being known in 

 Solomon's day. 



Camphor is first mentioned by Arabian writers in the 

 sixth century. It is mentioned by Actios, of Amida, in 

 Mesopotamia, according to whom Kaphura is a rare and 

 wonderful medicine. It is again mentioned, together with 

 musk, amber, and santal wood, among the treasures taken 

 in the year G3C, by the Kalif Omar, at the plundering of 

 the Sassanides Palace, in Madain, on the Tigris, and is 

 subsequently noticed as a costly gift, often presented by 

 Indian princes to high Chinese officials. This Camphor 

 came from the land known as Kaisur, the present Sumatra. 



Ishak Ibu Amrun, an Arabian physician, who lived 

 towards the close of the ninth century, states that the best 

 Camphor was produced in Fausur, a locality which was 

 ^•isited by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, who 

 mentions that the Kaisur Camphor was then marketable 

 at its weight in gold. 



From various sources of information it may be concluded 

 that Camphor, as it was first known, was the variety which 

 exists ready formed in the pith cavities of the trunk of the 

 Dryobandloji.-i catiijiJioivi, a magnificent tree growing in 

 Borneo, Sumatra, and Labua. In the forests of Sumatra 

 these trees attain an immense size, often being found of 

 6 or 7 feet in diameter. They do not aU contain Camphor, 

 many of them containing an oil, which is supposed to be 

 the first stage of the formation of the drug, and would 

 develop mto Camphor were the tree left immolested. 

 Both oil and Camjihor are found in the heart of the tree, 

 not occupying the whole length of the pith cavity, but 

 often in spaces of a foot or a foot and a half in length, at 

 intervals. The method of extracting the oil is merely by 

 making a deep incision with a Malay axe, about 14 or 18 

 feet from the ground, till near the heart, when a narrower 

 incision is made, and the oil, if any in the tree, gushes out, 

 and is received in bamboos or other utensils. In this 

 manner a party proceeds through the woods, wounding 

 the Camphor trees till they attain their object. From a 

 tree containing both oil and Camphor, 2 gallons of the 

 former and 3 lbs. of the latter may sometimes be obtained, 

 but hundreds of trees may be mutilated before Camphor is 

 discovered, as the natives have no certain means of 

 ascertaining if the tree produces either the one or the 

 other. When Camphor is found, the tree is felled and cut 

 into juaks of a few feet long ; these are then split, and the 

 Camphor is found in the heart, occupying a space in 

 circumference of the thickness of a man's arm. The 

 quantity varies from 3 to 15 lbs., and rarely as much as 



20 lbs. are obtained. Some trees when felled are not 

 found to contain any at all. The Camphor thus found 

 is called Tintanj, and by reason of the small quantity, it 

 commands a high price — from 3.5 to 70 shillings a pound, 

 according to quality. It does not find a market in Europe 

 at all, but is used to some extent on the spot as 

 incense, especially in the observation of funeral rites and 

 embalming the bodies of the dead, and is exported to 

 China, Japan, and other places in Eastern Asia, for similar 

 purposes. It is heavier than Laurel Camphor, and sinks 

 in water. 



The date at which the Chinese discovered the production 

 of Camphor from the Launis camplwra is unknown. This 

 is called Laurel Camphor, or "Common" Camphor. It 

 was brought into Europe by the Arabians about the 

 twelfth century, which is proved by the mention made of it 

 by the Abbess Hildegard (" St. Hildegardis Opera omnia," 

 1145, published in Paris 1855) who called it Ganphora. 

 Garcia de Orta, writing in 1563, states that the Chinese is 

 the only Camphor imported into Europe ; that of Borneo 

 and Sumatra, being a hundred times more valuable, is 

 retained by the Orientals for their own use. Kiimpfer 

 (strange coincidence of names), who visited Japan 1690-92 

 and made a drawing of the Japanese Camphor tree under 

 the name of Laurus ninipltorifera, expressly declares that 

 the tree dift'ers entirely from the Camphor-yielding tree of 

 the Malay Archipelago. He further states that the 

 Borneo Camphor is one of the most precious articles of 

 merchandise imported into Holland from Japaii. This 

 Camphor was refined in Japan by a process long kept 

 secret. 



The common Camphor tree, Launm rniiiphorn, is dis- 

 tributed throughout the eastern provinces of Central 

 China, on the Island of Hainan, and very extensively in 

 Formosa. It also occurs as a forest-tree on the islands 

 Kiushiu and Shikoku of South Japan, its growth being 

 much more vigorous there than in the more northern 

 districts. The Camphor of European commerce is pro- 

 duced 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 continued production and regular supply a matter of 

 considerable importance. It is a well-known fact that the 

 distillation of the crude Camphor from the wood is con- 

 ducted 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 

 exterminated along the sea-board, and the wood is now 

 obtained in the forests along the frontier, between the 

 settlements of the Cliinese and the inland mountainous 

 regions still occupied by the aboriginal population. The 

 Camphor-gatherers are hence continually exposed to the 

 assaults of the natives, which interrupt the profitable 

 prosecution of this industry. No attempts are made to 

 cultivate laurels to take the place of those destroyed, and 

 a sufficient quantity of the drug is only obtained by 

 constant encroachments upon the territory of the Formo- 

 sans, destroying the trees still further into the interior at 

 every new move. 



The method of extracting the Camphor is as follows : — 

 The trees are felled and the small branches chopped up ; 

 these, with the chips and twigs, are alone used, the heavy 

 wood being abandoned. A long trough, made of a hollow 

 tree, and coated with clay, is placed over eight or ten 

 hearth fires, and is half filled with water. Boards, 

 perforated with holes, are put across the trough, and above 

 each hole is a jar filled with chips of the wood, with 



