S U U A T R A, Hif 
tlioiigli doubtlefs from its volmiky it muft be fubjedl to fomc ddcfeafei 
does not appear to lofe much in quantity from being kept, as I have 
particular experience of. What r had of the Chincfe Ibrt is long fince 
evaporated, I know not what fuperiority In the ^ materia medica, is al- 
io wed to x^t capoorhatrms^ in point ofefficacyj it is pbiffibly confiderable, 
thoiigh certainly not in the proportion of fifty to one. Perhaps it may 
not have had a fair trial, being rarely brought to Europe but as acuri- 
ofity. 
The camphire oil before mentioned, is a valuable domeftic medic inc, 
and much ufcd by the Sumatrans, Inftrains, fwellmgSjand inflammations, 
the particles, from their extreme fubtilty, readily entering the pores* Ic 
is not manufactured, undergoes no preparation, and though ^ fermed an 
oil, is rather a liquid and volatile refm, diftilling from one fpecies of 
the •camphire tree, without any oleaginous quality. To procure it, they 
proceed in the following manner* They make a tranfverfe incifion into 
the tree, to the depth of fome inches, and then cut Hoping downwards 
from above the notch, till they leave a flat, horizontal fuperficies. This 
they hollow out, till it is of a capacity to receive about a quart. They then 
put into the hollow, a bit of lighted reed, and let it remain for about 
ten minutes, which afting as a ftimulus, draws the fluid to that part. 
In the fpace of a night, the liquor fills the receptacle prepared for it, 
and the tree continues to yi^ld a leflTer quantity^ for ihree fucceffive 
nights, whentfite niufi be again applied; but on a few repetitions it is 
exiiaufted. An oil not much unlike that from the camphire, is procured 
from another tree, by the fame method. It is called metma cayoo or wood 
oil, and isiifed to rub on timber expofed to the weather, to preserve it 
from decay; and it Is alfo boiled with the i^//;//?i7r to pay the bottoms 
of fliips and boats. • 
Benjamin or benzoin featmnyan)^ called a gum, tliough from it'f fo- 
kibility in fpirits it would feera more properly a refin, is produced from 
a tree which grows in great Itfeu-nd^iice iij the^ northern parts of the 
ilknd^ particularly in the Batta country, aad met with, though 
rarely 
