jal 
COMMERCIAL NOTES AND SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION. 39 
leaves are easily transportable, it would be possible to work up the leaves from a 
large district in one central station. When distilling camphor wood it is inconvenient 
to go far afield from the collecting centre, because the wood, being heavy, is not so 
readily transportable. 
Perhaps the projected scheme for a World’s Camphor Trust, of which reports 
appear in the press from time to time’), may be connected with the alleged unfavour- 
able position of the Japanese camphor industry. It is said that a preliminary under- 
standing has already been reached between the Kobe houses and the European 
merchants, but that the negotiations with the United States have not yet led to the 
desired result. 
There is very little further information concerning the camphor trade in China. 
In completion of the figures given on p.33 of our last Report we may state that the 
shipments from the whole of China in the year 1912 reached 2484 piculs, of the value 
of 175975 Haikwan Taels”). 
Judging from a Consular Report?) it is not impossible that there may be an 
increase in the camphor production of China. If rational methods of preparation 
were adopted, and if the trees were properly exploited, the camphor-output might be 
considerably enlarged. It is believed that four times as much camphor is now pro- 
duced in China as is exported. 
With regard to the production of camphor in Amani‘), the hope of repeating on 
a larger scale the experimental distillation on the plantation, covering 15 hectares 
(= 37'/2 acres), which has been laid down by the Administration of Forests at Wilhelmstal, 
could not be realized, owing to the lack of means of acquiring a suitable modern 
distilling-plant and of defraying the cost of distilling. 
L. Beille and P. Lemaire*®) report on the distillation of camphor from dry leaves 
and twigs®) which they had received from the Director of the Botanical Gardens at 
Konakry (French Guinea). In the year 1905 cuttings of camphor trees had been sent 
to Konakry, and by 1913 these had grown so much that the distilling-material referred 
to above could be gathered from them; 1000 grams of dry leaves yielded 16,5 grams 
= 1,65 p.c.) of camphor. The young twigs yielded 0,375 p.c. of a camphor containing 
a great deal of oil, whereas the older twigs contained oil only. 
In conclusion, reference remains to be made to an article which has appeared in 
a Dutch official publication’), according to which 108700 acres of virgin forest in 
Pahang (Malacca) have been set aside for camphor-production. The camphor-trees 
here occur only in the high-lying parts of the forest. It is estimated that only 1 p.c. 
of the trees contain camphor crystals. The natives of the virgin forest, the Sakais, 
have ceased to prepare camphor for such a long time that they have forgotten the 
very terms used by their ancestors in connection with the work in the days when 
camphor was still being collected. Only the headman of the tribe, the Pengkulu 
Kapur, is said to be able to judge whether a tree contains camphor or not. It is 
1) Handelsberichten (The Hague) 7 (1913), 894. — *) Nachr. f. Hand., Ind. u. Landw. 1918, No. 145, p. 6. — 
*) Daily Cons. and Trade Rep., Washington 16 (1913), No. 229, Oct.1. — *) Der Pflanzer 10 (1914), 32; Comp. 
Report April 1912, 34. — *) Bull. de Pharm. de Bordeaux 1918, 521; Annal. de Pharm. 19 (1913), 534. — S)A 
symposium of distillations of camphor-leaves carried out in various countries is given in Gildemeister and 
Hoffmann’s Die dtherischen Ole, 2°4Ed. Vol. Il. p. 472. — 7) Handelsberichten (The Hague) 7 (1913), 771. 
