March  2,  x8g6.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
587 
end  ill  our  country  seems  to  require  the  aid  of 
instructed  reflective  man,— first  in  draining  and  so 
far  reclaiming  the  bog,  and  thou  in  planting  it  anew 
with  suitable  timbir. 
(To  he  continued.) 
CAMPHOR  LEAF  OIL. 
15Y  DAVID  nOOl’EE,  F.C.S. 
The  recent  high  price  of  camplior,  on  account  of  the 
war  between  China  and  Japan  and  trade  monopolies, 
has  caused  some  anxiety  in  countries  where  it  is  large- 
ly consumed,  and  China  and  Japan  being  at  present  the 
only  two  countries  where  camphor  is  produced  on  a 
large  scale,  it  has  been  thought  desirable  that  its  culti- 
vation should  be  taken  up  in  other  lauds.  In  .Japan 
the  camphor  trees  grow  at  high  elevations  away  from 
the  sea,  and  only  large  trees  of  about  one  hundred 
years  old  are  selected  for  use  in  making  the 
camphor.  From  the  export  returns  of  this  country, 
it  seems  that  the  supply  is  gradually  becoming  ex- 
hausted. In  the  island  of  Formosa  the  camphor  trees 
are  said  to  be  by  no  means  plentiful,  and  they  grow 
only  in  certain  favourable  situations  as  far  as  the 
climate  is  concerned,  with  savage  tribes  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity.  Here  the  trees  are  not  considered 
worth  taking  until  they  are  fifty  years  old,  and  the 
wood  only  of  the  roots  and  stems  is  subjected  to 
distillation. 
The  camphor  tree  grows  very  well  in  India. 
The  Calcutta  Botanic  Gardens  possess  a fine  avenue 
of  trees  which  were  introduced  in  1802.  It  grows 
well  in  the  Ootacamuud  Botanical  Gardens  and  in 
other  parts  of  the  Nilgiris.  It  has  been  planted, 
as  an  experimental  measure,  at  Jhansi  in  the  'North- 
Western  Provinces,  and  in  other  districts  in  the 
plains.  Camphor  has  been  known  and  used  in  India 
for  many  centuries.  In  A.D.  642,  Indian  princes 
sent  camphor  as  a tribute  or  offering  to  the  Chinese 
emperors.  At  one  time  the  tree  flourished  in  Nepal 
and  Tipperah,  a large  tract  of  laud  lying  between 
Bengal  and  the  Upper  Irrawaddy.  'Within  the  present 
century  camphor  was  imported  from  Chittagong,  but 
it  has  been  said  that  the  discovery  of  the  hill-men  of 
distilling  it  from  the  root  led  to  extinction  of  the 
trees. 
In  Ceylon  the  camphor  tree  grows  well  at  elevations 
of  5,000  feet  and  less;  it  has  the  habit  of  a willow  in 
the  island,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that,  like  a 
willoWi  the  trees  should  be  coppiced,  and  the  loaves 
and  branches  used  for  preparing  the  od.  The  tree 
grows  for  ornamental  purposes  in  Naples  and  other  parts 
of  Italy.  Professor  Maisch  in  1891  reported  on  the 
cultivation  of  camphor  in  Florida,  where  it  flourished 
in  almost  any  soil.  The  solid  oil  was  made  from 
the  leaves  and  branches  ; the  yield  was  4 per 
cent,  and  the  product  was  more  like  that  of  Japan, 
as  it  had  an  odour  of  safrol.  California  has  lately 
become  the  scene  of  an  industry  which  has  for  its  ob- 
jects the  planting  of  the  laurel  camphor  and  the  prepar- 
ation of  the  oil  for  the  American  market.  The  tree  has 
also  become  naturalised  in  Java,  Brazil,  Jamaica,  and 
other  isles  of  the  West  Indies,  Mauritius  and  Madeira. 
It  is  very  evident  that  the  camphor  tree  is  able 
to  grow  very  luxuriantly  and  extensively  in  the 
warmer  temperate  and  tropical  parts  of  the  world, 
far  removed  from  China  and  Japan,  but  the  slow 
growth  of  the  tree  would  prevent  all  but  large 
capitalists  from  opening  up  plantations  and  waiting 
for  the  plants  to  sufliciently  mature.  If  it  is  true  that 
in  the  island  of  T ormosa  the  wood  only  of  the  larger 
trees  is  used,  and  the  leaves  and  branches  rejected, 
then  there  can  hardly  be  a scarcity  of  the  trees, 
or  the  manufacture  must  be  conducted  in  a very 
reckless  and  extravagant  manner.  The  camphor  from 
the  Dryobalanops  tree  is  said  to  be  quite  licpiid  if 
a young  tree  is  tapped,  and  solid  if  the  tree  is  old. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  would  seem  that  the  liquid 
oil  constituted  the  first  stage  in  the  development  of  the 
solid  substance.  It  is  stated  in  some  text-books  on  ma- 
teria medica  that  the  stearopten  exists  in  every  part  of 
the  plant,  including  the  leaves.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  remarkable  that  the  leaves  are  not  used  in 
China  and  Japan;  perhaps  the  natives  have  found 
(liat  ibe  leav^B  011I7  give  a Ucjuid  wbjiib 
cannot  be  profitably  turned  into  camphor.  As  there 
is  no  definite  information  on  this  point  to  bo  found 
in  any  description  of  the  industry,  I thought  it  would 
be  interesting  to  try  the  effect  of  distilling  the  leaves. 
Another  reason  that  encouraged  me  to  make  some 
experiments  in  this  direction  was  the  hearty  manner 
in  which  some  energetic  planters  of  Ceylon  have 
taken  up  the  camphor  question. 
A large  number  of  experiments  have  been  made, 
and  a great  deal  has  been  written,  with  regard  to 
camphor  oil,  the  bye-product  obtained  in  refining 
crude  camphor  before  it  is  formed  into  blocks.  'This, 
has  been  proved  to  be  a very  variable  liquid  with 
a specific  gravity  ranging  from  0'88  to  I'OO,  an  erratic 
optical  rotation,  although  usually  to  the  right,  and 
containing  camphor  in  suspension,  or  in  solution, 
or  none  at  all. 
The  first  sample  of  leaves  came  from  an  unbrageous 
tree  growing  in  the  Government  Gardens  at  Oota- 
camund.  Fifty  pounds  of  the  leaves  in  a fresh  state 
were  distilled  in  a large  copper  still  with  sufficient 
water  for  six  hours.  Bight  fluid  ounces  of  oil 
were  separated  from  the  distillate,  giving  the  yield 
of  essential  oil  one  p^r  cent.  The  oil  had  a slightly 
yellow  colour,  a specific  gravity  at  15°  C.  of  0 9.S22, 
and  a rotation  of  -i-9°'4  in  a 2 decimetre  tube.  It  gave 
off  a email  quantity  of  liquid  at  160°,  and  began 
to  boil  regularly  at  175°. 
Collected  below  180° 
=r 
20-6 
185° 
31-0 
190° 
15-5 
195° 
=: 
10-6 
200° 
A_r 
6-6 
205° 
= 
3-3 
Residue 
8-6 
95-2 
The  loss  here  was  occasioned  by  some  of  the  camphor 
congealing  in  the  condenser;  the  amount,  however,  in 
this  sample  could  only  be  about  10  or  15  per  cent. 
The  residue  in  the  retort  was  quite  solid  in  the 
cold,  and  had  a yellowish  colour  and  strong  camphor- 
aceous  odour. 
The  second  sample  was  obtained  from  some  younger 
trees  grown  at  Naduvatam  on  the  Nilgiris,  a district 
more  than  a thousand  feet  lower  than  Ootacamuud. 
The  leaves  were  distilled  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 
previous  experiment,  but  a large  quantity  of  camphor 
condensed  during  the  process  and  almost  choked  up 
the  worm  of  the  still.  About  four  ounces  of  liquid 
were  collected,  having  a mass  of  crystalline  matter 
suspended  in  it.  The  oil  was  strained  through  cloth, 
and  the  solid  matter,  pressed  hard  to  remove  all 
the  liquid  portion,  w'as  left  as  a cake  of  camphor, 
weighing  two  ounces.  The  clear  oil  had  a specific 
gravity  of  0'9314  at  1,5°  C.,  and  twisted  a ray  of 
polarised  light  -1-54°  in  a 2 decimetre  tube.  It 
began  to  boil  regularly  at  165°. 
Collected  below  185°  = l3-3 
190°  — 20-0 
195°  = 15-5 
200°  ==.  20'0 
Residue  = 25-0 
93-8 
The  loss  was  again  acccunted  for  by  some  of  the 
camphor  condensing  in  the  cool  tube.  About  one-half 
of  this  oil  consisted  of  solid  camphor,  or,  calculating 
the  camphor  already  separated,  the  oil  from  the 
Naduvatam  leaves  contained  75  per  cent.,  which  is 
a very  satisfactory  result.  The  camphor  dissolved  in 
rectified  spirit,  twisted  a ray  of  light  F 30°.  The 
altitude  of  the  Government  Gardens  in  Ootacamuud 
is  7,300  feet,  and  it  is  possible  that  this  elevation 
influences  the  formation  of  the  solid  stearopten 
in  the  leaves.  At  any  rate,  it  is  interesting 
to  know  that  a large  proportion  of  camphor  can  be 
obtained  from  the  oil  of  the  leaves  and  from  the 
leaves  themselves,  and  probably,  if  taken  from  trees 
grown  at  a much  lower  elevation,  a much  larger 
proportion  of_  this  useful  subsbauOQ  could  be  ooUsotodi 
