2 ON THE CAMPHOR 



near TappanooJy, from which three catties (above 

 three pounds) of camphor, and at the same time, 

 near two gallons of oil had been procured. If a tree 

 be old, and yield oil plentifully, the natives esteem 

 these two circumstances sure indications of its con- 

 taining a considerable quantity of camphor. Mr. 

 M acqjjef, in his chemical dictionary, has remarked, 

 that the nitrous acid dissolves camphor without com- 

 motion, that the solution is clear and limped, and 

 that it is called camphor-oil. This affords a proof 

 that the formed camphor is produced from the oil by 

 a natural operation of composition, the decomposition 

 by means of the above solvent reducing the substance 

 to its primary state, previous to concretion. The 

 Acliinese are reckoned the best judges of camphor ; 

 and the oil they collect undergoes a process by dis- 

 tillation, leaving a residuum of inferior camphor. 

 Trees of a certain age only yield camphor. It would 

 seem that a certain time is requisite for maturing the 

 oil to that state, when its contained camphor becomes 

 lit for being concreted by the hear of the sun acting 

 on the tree and soil. The camphor-tree is one of the 

 Enneandrla Monogyma ofLiNNiEus, and differs in a 

 small variation in the form of the leaf from the Arbor 

 Camphorifera Japanica, fatih laurinis 9 jrnctu parvo y 

 calyce brrvisshno. The tree very much resembles the 

 Bay in leaves. The trunk is thick -, die bark of a 

 brownish appearance; and the ramification strong, 

 close, and extended. It is fond of a rich red loam, 

 tending to a blackish clay, mixed whh a crumbling 

 stone of the colour of marl. It grows principally 



on 



