December, 1909.] 



505 



Drugs and Medicinal Products. 



Comparison with Previous Investi- 

 gations. 



The results compare favourably with 

 the investigations of Messrs. Willis and 

 Bamber on the cultivation and prepar- 

 ation of camphor in Ceylon {Vide Circu- 

 lar Series I, No. 4, Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Ceylon, 1901). Hooper (Fide Pharmaceu- 

 tical Journal (56) Vol. ii. P. 21) also ob- 

 tained a yield of 1 per cent, cf oil from 

 leaves of plants grown in India. In 

 one instance the oil is stated to contain 

 only 10-15 per cent, of camphor, while 

 another specimen yielded 75 per cent, 

 of camphor. 



Schimmel & Co., in Germany, one of 

 the largest manufacturers of essential- 

 oils, also obtained an oil from the roots, 

 which was stated to consist chiefly of 

 camphor. The amount of camphor 

 isolated from the oil will depend on 

 temperature, etc., more camphor can be 

 separated from the oil by cooling, and 

 also by redistilling the oil alone, prefer- 

 ably under reduced pressure, or with 

 steam. 



The camphor is a much more valuable 

 commercial article than the oil, but the 

 cil is also used to a considerable extent 

 now for the preparation of safrol, as 

 well as for solvent purposes, in cheap 

 perfumery, soaps, etc. 



Future Experiments. 

 The experiments already initiated will 

 be carried on as time permits with 

 further material and with younger trees. 

 The trees in the Experimental Planta- 

 tion, Kuala Lumpur, are only two years 

 old, and experiments will be made with 

 these at intervals, to ascertain the yields 

 at different stages of the plant's growth. 

 Experiments are also being made to find 

 the most suitable planting distances, and 

 in addition, the most suitable form of 

 cultivation, methods of pruning and their 

 effects are being investigated. 



Analyses of the soils on which these 

 trees are being cultivated will also be 

 made, and the manurial value of the 

 primings estimated before and after 

 extraction. 



Borneo Camphor. 

 Investigations are also being carried 

 on with Dryobalanops Camphora of 

 the Natural Order Dipterocarpece, com- 

 monly known as the Borneo or Sumatra 

 camphor tree, from which the valuable 

 so called Borneo Camphor is obtained. 



This tree does not yield the true " cam- 

 phor" known in commerce, but a closely 

 related compound known as Borneol. 



The oil and "camphor" has not 

 hitherto been an article of commerce at 

 home, but is chiefly used by the various 

 Eastern nations for ritualistic purposes 

 and for embalming. No very detailed 

 chemical examination of the oil has so far 

 been carried out, owing to the scarcity 

 of the oil. The oil has been obtained pre- 

 viously by distillation of the wood (age?) 

 and, by tapping the trunks. 



The crystals of "camphor" can often 

 be seen in cavities in the wood. 



According to Watts' ' ' Commercial Pro- 

 ducts of India," 1908, this camphor is 

 that of ordinary camphor. An average 

 tree (age ?) is said to yield 11 lbs., the 

 older trees being the most valuable, while 

 only some 10 per cent, of the trees des- 

 troyed are really remunerative. 



Experiments are being carried on at 

 present with the primings from trees 

 nine years old cultivated in the Experi- 

 mental Plantation, Kuala Lumpur. 



J. W. Campbell, 

 Supt, Exp. Plantation, F. M. S. 



B. J. Eaton, 

 Government Chemist, F. M. S, 



EDIBLE PRODUCTS. 



THE INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY. 



From the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXIV., No. 4, April, 1909.) 

 Recently the manuring of tea has 

 taken its place, on the majority of 

 gardens, in the ordinary routine work, 

 and practically all estates now keep 

 careful records of the quantity ot manure 

 applied and the outturn of the different 

 plots under treatment. Still, it must be 

 admitted that the manuring of the tea 

 plant in India is in its infancy. But 

 61 



though progress i& slow there are 

 indications that manuring is to be of 

 great importance in the near future. 



For several years the value of soil 

 analysis was greatly overrated ; now 

 the pendulum has taken a swing the 

 other way, and at the present day there 

 appears to be a tendency to underrate 

 its utility. Some time ago a book was 

 published in Germany assuming that by 

 studying plant and soil analyses one 

 would be enabled to supply different 

 plants with ideal manures, but results 



