]48 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



fer has remarked that the camphor found in a concrete state in the cavities 

 and fissures of the trunk of a tree in Borneo and Sumatra, was different from 

 that of the Laurus. 



According to the authorities above quoted, the Camphor is found in a solid 

 state, occupying portions of about a foot or a foot and a half in the heart of 

 the tree. In searching for it the natives make a deep incision in the trunk 

 about fourteen or eighteen feet from the ground, and if it is found to contain 

 camphor, the tree is cut down and divided into pieces about three feet long, in 

 order to permit the gum to be extracted. The same tree also yields an oil or 

 liquid camphor which is even more esteemed in eastern countries than the 

 camphor itself; to obtain this it is merely necessary to wound or pierce the 

 tree. The product of a middle-sized tree is about eleven pounds, though some 

 furnish double that quantity. 



The Dryobalanops camphor occurs in small fragments of crystals ; these 

 are transparent, brittle, harder than the Laurus camphor, and do not sublime as 

 readily. The oil is sometimes limpid and colourless, but usually is of a yel- 

 lowish or brownish colour. Its smell resembles that of Cajeput, but is more 

 camphorated. It is used principally in making scented soap. 



This camphor probably possesses the same properties as the camphor of 

 the shops, which will be noticed under the appropriate head, (see Camphora 

 officinarum,) but as no trials have been made with it in Europe or this country, 

 nothing certain is known of them. In the East, as before mentioned, it is 

 infinitely preferred to the Japan kind, and Ainslie states that it is the most 

 frequently employed in India, and the Chinese attribute the most extraordinary 

 virtues to it. 



Order 1 9.— TERNSTROMIACE.E.— Lindley. 



Sepals 3-5 concave, coriaceous, persistent, the innermost often largest, aestivation im- 

 bricated. Petals mostly 5, hypogynous, alternate with the sepals, often united at base. 

 Stamens indefinite, inserted on the petals; filaments usually cohering in one or more 

 parcels at base ; anthers adnate or versatile. Ovary 2-7-celled, usually sessile on a dis- 

 coid torus ; ovules 2 or more in each cell ; styles 2-7, distinct or combined. Fruit 2-7- 

 celled, capsular, baccate, or coriaceous and indehiscent. Seeds commonly few and large, 

 albuminous or exalbuminous. Embryo straight , or curved ; cotyledons often large, and 

 containing oil. 



This order, which includes the Theacese of some authors, is composed of 

 trees and shrubs, with alternate, mostly coriaceous, exstipulate leaves, which 

 are sometimes marked with pellucid dots. The flowers are large and showy, 

 on axillary and terminal peduncles. The order, though a small one, is re- 

 markable for the importance of some of the plants contained in it; among 

 these the Tea stands pre-eminent, both as an article of commerce and also in 

 a medical point of view. It also contains the Camellia, so esteemed for the 

 beauty of its flowers, and for the oil extracted from its seeds, and those orna- 

 ments of the American forest, the Gordonias and Stuartias. 



Thea. — Linn. 



Sepals 5-6, rounded. Petals 6-9, sessile. Stamens numerous. Capsule 3-celledi 

 7-valved, each cell containing one to two seeds, and opening at the upper part. 



This genus derives its name from its Chinese appellation, and in a 

 commercial point of view, is one of the most important of the vegetable king- 

 dom. But notwithstanding this importance, and the numerous notices of it, 

 and its cultivation, no little uncertainty exists whether it contains one or more 



