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CAMPHOR TREE. 
Laurus camphora. L. foliis ovatis , utrinque acuminatis , trinerviis , nitidis ; 
petiolis laxis ; fructibus atropurpureis. 
Among the vegetables of the Old Continent which possess a high degree 
of interest for the United States, the Camphor Tree holds an eminent 
place. It especially deserves attention from the inhabitants of the Floridas, 
of the lower part of the Carolinas, and of Lower Louisiana. Its multipli- 
cation in these climates would be so easy, that after a few years it might 
be abandoned to nature. 
The Camphor Tree in its general character is nearly related to the Red 
Bay, so common throughout the regions which I have just mentioned : they 
are of the same height, are both ever-green, and so similar in appearance 
that at a little distance they are easily confounded. 
The Camphor Tree grows in China, Japan and some other parts of the 
East Indies. It often exceeds 40 or 50 feet in height, with a proportional 
diameter. The leaves are supported by long petioles, and are alternate, 
shining on both sides, 2 or 3 inches long, an inch broad, and acuminate at 
both extremities, with distinct longitudinal ribs. The young branches are 
green. 
The flowers, like those of the Red Bay, are diminutive, whitish, and 
united in small axillary bunches. The seeds resemble those of the Red 
Bay in size and form, but are of a dark purple color. The leaves, the 
bark, the wood and the roots are strongly impregnated with the odor of 
Camphor : from the roots especially, this substance, so useful in medicine, 
is extracted. 
In China and Japan the unrefined Camphor is obtained in the following 
manner : the roots are cut into small pieces and boiled with water in large 
iron retorts, of which the cover is made of earth and provided with cords of 
rice-straw. When the ebullition commences, the Camphor rises with the 
vapor and attaches itself to these cords in the form of grayish dust, in which 
state it is brought to Europe. The greater part of the Camphor of com- 
merce comes from the province of Sotsoanna, and from the Isles of Gotha. 
Till within a few years, the Dutch have exclusively possessed the sècret 
of refining the Camphor, and of bringing it into a state proper for medical 
use. But chemistry has made such rapid progress in France since the 
revolution, that this process, among others, has become known, and it is 
