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only the oil and water pass into the 

 receiver, a tube condenser has the dis- 

 advantage that the tubes would soon 

 get blocked. Apart from this the layer 

 of camphor on the tube would form a 

 non-conducting medium and lessen the 

 efficiency of the condenser. 



(3) It is difficult to clean out a tube 

 condenser, and easily remove the 

 camphor, though this could easily be 

 done by a special scraper fitting the 

 condenser tubes. 



(4) The chief disadvantage of the 

 particular still described is the time 

 wasted in discharging and recharging. 



The discharging could be hastened by 

 having a lateral opening above the per- 

 forated plate, and made air tight by an 

 asbestos sheet. 



(5) In a large still the weight of the 

 leaves or wood, especially when wet, 

 would tend to create pressure inside, by 

 blocking the passage of steam. This 

 could be remedied by using a series of 

 perforated plates, a definite quantity of 

 material (wood or leaves) resting on 

 each. 



A better plan and one which would 

 simplify discharging and charging would 

 perhaps be a metal cage which could be 

 lifted bodily out of the still by means of 

 a crane or other mechanical device and 

 easily emptied by inversion and replaced 

 when discharged. This would also allow 

 steam to enter the material from all 

 sides. 



Yields. 



In the first experiment with this 

 apparatus, a whole tree, including roots, 

 was received from the Batu Tiga 

 Experimental Plantations and consisted 

 of :- 



Leaves weighing 12$ lbs. -7'5 per cent. 



Twigs less than $ inch diameter weigh- 

 ing 30 lbs. = 18"2 per cent. 



Twigs and wood over \ inch diameter 

 93 lbs. =56-3 per cent. 



Roots 29-5 lbs. =18 0. 



Separate distillations were made of 

 the leaves, twigs under \ inch diameter, 

 wood, and root with the following 

 results : — 



12$ lbs. of leaves yielded 2 ozs. of 

 camphor and oil = 1 '0 per cent. 



30 lbs. of small twigs yielded 1*07 ozs. 

 of camphor=0"22 per cent. 



93 lbs. of large twigs and wood yielded 

 9'8 ozs. of camphor =0'66 per cent. 



29$ lbs. of Roots yielded 5'7 ozs. of 

 camphor and oil = T2 per cent. 



[December, 1909. 



The camphor in these experiments was 

 of a brownish colour, due to contamina- 

 tion with iron oxide or rust from the 

 condenser. 



Most of the camphor scraped from the 

 copper tubes of the condenser was almost 

 white, which leads to the conclusion 

 that a copper condenser would not dis- 

 colour the product. The discoloured 

 camphor can readily be rendered white 

 by redistillation through a glass con- 

 denser or by sublimation. 



Periods of Distillation. 

 In the small preliminary experiments 

 it was found that all the camphor and 

 oil distilled over within three hours or 

 rather less, in fact the greater portion 

 of the camphor distilled over within 

 half an hour after steam commenced to 

 pass throuuh the material. In the later 

 experiments the distillation was carried 

 on for a longer period than three hours 

 in order to ascertain whether in the 

 larger plant, similar results would be 

 obtained. In each case the camphor and 

 oil from three hour distillations were 

 collected separately and the following 

 results obtained :— 



(1) Distillation of leaves. 



First period of three hours. Camphor 

 and oil obtained = 1*0 per cent. 



Second period of three hours. Trace 

 only. 



Third period of three hours. Nil. 



(2) Distillation of twigs. 



First period of three hours. Camphor 

 and oil =0*20 per cent, 



Second period of three hours. Camphor 



and oil =0*022 per cent. 

 Third period of three hours. Nil. 



(3) Distillation of wood. 



First period of three hours. Cam- 

 phor and oil obtained=0'56 percent. 



Second period of three hours. Cam- 

 phor and oil =0*075. 



Third period of three hours. Camphor 

 and oil= 0-022. 



(4) Distillation of roots. 



First period of three hours. Camphor 



and oil=10 per cent. 

 Second period of three hours. Camphor 

 and oil=0'2 per cent. 



Third period of three hours. Camphor 

 and oil— Trace. 



Conclusions, - These experiments in- 

 dicate that it would probably not be 

 advisable to carry on the distillation for 

 a longer period than three hours in the 

 case of camphor prunings. 



