_ 27 — 



timber, belonged to this species. Unfortunately Hut chins does not 

 say whether, as a matter of fact, camphor was isolated from this tree 

 and detected. The Kenia forest covers an area of about i million 

 acres, and the value of the trees is estimated at 23 million pounds. 



The manufacturers of artificial camphor have, naturally, not been 

 wanting in their endeavours to derive benefit from the advancing 

 prices, and Japan looks with well-founded anxiety upon this com- 

 petition, the importance of which, at times of normal camphor prices, 

 has always been under -estimated. Recently artificial camphor has 

 even been produced in Japan itself, namely by S. Otaui at Yonago 1 ). 

 Smell and colour of the powdery product resemble those of natural 

 camphor, and the chemical examination made by Tabara is said to 

 have given satisfactory results. Yet the correspondent does not believe 

 that the synthetic camphor can be manufactured at a sufficiently low 

 price to compete with the natural product. 



The Meeting of the New York Section of the Society of Chemical 

 Industry held on February 15 th , was entirely devoted to camphor and 

 its technology 2 ). Papers were read by: H. H. Rusby, on the origin 

 and production of camphor; G. Drobegg, on the purifying and 

 refining of natural camphor; V. Coblentz, on the history of camphor 

 and its use in pharmacy and medicine; R. C. Schupphaus, on the 

 technical application of camphor; F. J. Pond, on syntheses of camphor; 

 J. E. Crane and C. M. Joyce, Notes on the analysis of camphor. 

 Whereas the contents of the first five papers may be passed over 

 here as well-known, the subject dealt with in the last paper may here 

 not be devoid of interest. The authors first of all produced pure 

 camphor by sublimation and subsequent threefold recrystallisation 

 from proof spirit. The purity of the product was checked by the 

 melting point: the sublimate melted at 177,5 to I 7^i5°y the product 

 once recrystallised at 178 to 179 , and twice and thrice recrystallised 

 camphor at 179,1 to 179,4°. The last-named product was employed 

 for the determinations. 



1. Sublimation. About 1 g. (weighed accurately) of the above 

 camphor, is placed on a 2 -in. watch glass, covered with another 

 carefully ground 3 -in. watch glass, and the whole heated for some 

 time, say 30 minutes, on a metal dish over a very small flame. 

 When all has been sublimed, the flame is removed, the camphor left 

 to cool for 5 minutes, another ground, exactly fitting 3 -in. watch glass 

 is placed over the sublimed product, the latter dried for an hour in 



*) Chemist and Druggist 70 (1907), 974. 



2 ) Journ. Soc. chem. Industry 26 (1907), 380. 



