ON THE CAMPHIRE, OR CAMPHOR TREES OF THE ANCIENTS. 
245 
pogon Calamus-aromaticus ), Cinnamon ( Cinnamomum verum), Myrrh ( Balsamodendron 
Myrrha), Frankincense ( Ceradia furcata or Boswellia serrata), Aloes ( Aloexylon Agallo- 
chum ), and other kinds of chief spices and perfumes. See “ Canticles ” v. 13, where the 
tree is said to grow in an orchard of spices and perfumes, which was watered by a number 
of fountains ; the Hebrew word {Pardes) translated Orchard , which we understand as 
a place wholly dedicated to the growth of fruit-trees, signifies, more properly, a Paradise or 
Pleasure- Garden, which for the kind of plants mentioned above, would seem to be a more 
appropriate meaning for the word. 
In “ Canticles ” v. 14, however, it is said to grow in the vineyards of Engedi, where 
there was probably not only a garden of choice fruits, but likewise a Botanical or Pleasure 
Garden, where the Israelitish monarchs could retire, and cultivate their botanical taste. We 
have here also an intimation of one of its uses ; a cluster or bunch appears to have been 
placed in the bosom, after the manner of our nosegays, from which we should conclude 
that the branches themselves emitted a pleasant perfume. 
The Chinese Camphor-Laurel ( Cinnamomum C amphora) partakes of these 
required properties : it is a very handsome shrub, with beautiful shining green foliage, 
emitting a very pleasant and exhilarating perfume, and producing Camphor in abundance, 
even in a concrete form, especially in the roots. On account of the plant being so highly 
impregnated with Camphor, the bark, although similar in many respects to the Cinnamon, 
is yet unfit for use in spicery. The greatest quantity of imported camphor is produced 
in the Island of Formosa, and brought to Canton in large quantities by the Chinchew 
junks for exportation. It is obtained by distillation of the wood, branches, and leaves. 
The plant is a native of China, Japan, and some parts even of South America : in 
the two former places it is said to grow in great abundance in the woods. The tree is 
evergreen, and rises to fifty feet in height, becoming divided into many branches. The 
leaves are ovate-lanceolate, entire, smooth, shining, of a pale yellowish green on the upper 
surface, glaucous beneath. Petioles an inch long. Peduncles axillary, two inches or more 
in length ; many-flowered. Flowers small, white, and inconspicuous. 
The introduction of this plant to Great Britain was about the year 1727, and is said 
to have been cultivated by Miller ; for many years, however, it has been a scarce plant, 
although it requires little more heat than what is afforded by a common greenhouse, and 
may be easily increased by cuttings planted in pots of sand, and placed in heat. 
Camphor is also obtained from another tree of an entirely different order of plants, 
— the Guttifers; this tree is called Dryobalanops Camphora, and produces the hard 
Camphor of Borneo and Sumatra, of which countries the plant is a native. This Camphor 
is said to be more pure, and much less volatile, than the common Camphor obtained 
from the Camphor-Laurel. It is found in a concrete state in cavities and fissures in the 
heart of the tree, in large pieces a foot or eighteen inches in length: and persons, 
called Toongoo Nyr-Cappoor, select such trees as are supposed to contain the largest 
quantity. The Bornean Camphor Oil is also obtained from the same plant, and is 
supposed to be the Camphor in a partially formed or fluid state. 
The tree is stated to grow wild in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra, where it forms 
one of the tallest and largest of trees. The bark is brown. The leaves from three to 
seven inches long, upper ones alternate, lower opposite. Flowers brown, divided into five 
long segments. 
The age of the trees at which the Camphor is obtained, is not correctly known. The 
young trees, however, yield only oil : the method of extracting it, is to make an incision 
with an axe fourteen or sixteen feet high up the bole, and the oil gushes out, and is 
received in Bamboos, or any other utensils. 
It is identical with Dryobalanops aromatica of Gsert., and the Shorea Camphorifera 
of Roxb., and is a stove-plant not difficult of cultivation. It is readily increased by ripened 
cuttings planted in sand, and covered with a glass in heat. 
