Indian Forest Records. 
284 
[VOL. I. 
cannot be regarded as correct, for tbe process employed for determining 
it was indeed a very crude one.^ 
The percentage yields of the essential oil from tbe shade -dried samples 
of B. halsamijera and C. camphora as determined both by the methods 
Nos. 1 and 2 and calculated on the dry material are for convenience of 
comparison tabulated below : — 
Sample. 
Volatile oil by 
extraction. 
Volatile oil by 
distillation. 
Blumea balsamifera, shade-dried leaves from 
Taungoo, No. 3. 
1-88 
0-423 
Blumea balsamifera (decomposed and rotten 
during transit), from Mawhan forests, No. 4. 
1-38 
0-335 
G. camphora growing in Dehra Dun College Park, 
shade-dried leaves. No. 6. 
4-41 
1-775 
General Conclusions. 
The conclusions that have been drawn from the above analyses may 
now be briefly summarised as follows : — After the roots, which caimot 
be utilised for the extraction of camphor, the leaves are the richest part 
of B. halsamijera as regards the yield of essential oil ; and though 
the Chinese employ only the last three joints of a branch, the assay of the 
stem has shown that it together with the leaves can be profitably distilled 
for the extraction of the oil and camphor. Exposure of the leaves to the 
sun is detrimental to the quantity of the essential oil, but after the leaves 
have been gathered from the plant, they may, if desired, be dried in the 
shade. For it is practically immaterial whether the leaves to be distilled 
be fresh or shade dried. It has been found that in rotten leaves a part 
of the oil becomes degenerated. It is therefore extremely desirable that 
when the leaves are to be transported to a distant place, they should be 
thoroughly dried in the shade before their despatch, as in that case they 
are less liable to rot. The Chinese system of letting the leaves and 
1 It may be of interest to compare this yield of the camphor from the volatile oil 
of B. balsamifera with the yield of camphor from a sample of Cinnamonum camphora 
fresh leaves, which was determined by a better process and was found 10 — 16 p.c. of the 
oil in the leaves (Hooper, loc. cit.). 
