38 Report of Schimmel 3 Co. April 1913. 



We may here also refer to an article which has appeared in an American trade 

 journal, according to which there are two varieties of camphor tree in Formosa 1 ) of 

 which one is said to yield only camphor oil and the other only camphor, while between 

 them, it is said, all possible subvarieties exist. We are still waiting for an explanation 

 of this remarkable phenomenon. Possibly the differences here referred to are not 

 botanical, but have a physiological basis. The statement is not new; we have already 

 referred to it several years ago-). Subsequently we have also mentioned the remarkable 

 experiences which have been made in the camphor-producing industry and which 

 indicate that either the camphor-producing trees are imperfectly known botanically or 

 that not all the specimens of the separate species afford camphor"). 



In the Dutch commercial paper 4 ) mentioned above we find a short notice of new 

 plantations of camphor trees. It refers to the Idzu region (Japan) and to the Bonin- 

 islands off the coast of Japan. The soil and climate of these islands are said to be 

 particularly favourable to camphor cultivation. Experiments in planting have been 

 made since the year 1908, two plantations having been laid down, one of 122,5 acres 

 at Oshima (Vries Island) and one of 208,05 acres at Hachijo. The results have been 

 very favourable, the trees flourished, and began to yield camphor after only 4 years. 

 In 1912 a beginning was made with the distillation of the leaves, and the camphor 

 obtained from these is said to be of good quality. 



Utz 5 ) claims to have discovered a method for differentiating camphor oil from 

 turpentine. When American, French, Greek, or Spanish turpentine oil is shaken up with 

 half its volume of solution of stannic chloride, the oil-layer appears to be colourless 

 and the reagent-layer yellow; with camphor oil and pine tar oil the oil appears orange 

 to blood-red, the reagent blood-red. A differentiation between pine tar oil and camphor 

 oil is based upon the difference in their behaviour towards sodium and potassium 

 hydroxides. In contact with pine tar oil these reagents after some time become covered 

 with a brown layer, whereas with camphor oil they remain colourless even after 84 hours 

 or at most assume a very faint yellow tinge. 



Cananga Oil. In the course of the winter a fairly active trade was developed 

 in cananga oil at rising prices, as the cheap second-hand stocks had been used up. 

 It appears, however, that the upward movement has been determined less by urgent 

 European demand, than by the way in which the dealers in Java outbid each other in 

 their purchases. Increased consumption, however, also accounts in part for the greater 

 firmness. At the present moment the distillers in Java continue to ask very high prices, 

 but if, owing to the remunerative rates, over-production should set in (as has happened 

 before), the effect thereof will no doubt make itself felt in an early weakening of the 

 market. It will then depend upon the consumption whether, and to what extent, prices 

 will recede. For the present, as stated, the article remains extremely firm, and we 

 should say that the possibility to which we have referred is still in the far-distant 

 future. Meticulous care and control continue to be required when making purchases, for 

 the high prices are only too tempting to cause the natives to increase their output 

 by malpractices. It is true, however, that neither in our imports for our own consider- 

 able requirements, nor in our analyses made for friendly firms, have we met with a 



l ) Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter 82 (1912), No. 10, p. 48. — 2 ) Comp. Report October 1907, 23. — 

 s ) Comp. Report April 1908, 23; April 1911, 37. — *) Ilandehberichten (the Hague) 6 (1913), 979. — 5 ) Farben- 

 zeitnnr, 17 (1912), 2105; Ghent. ZentralbJ. 1912, II. 872. 



