properties as the camphor, and is supposed to be the first stage of its formation. The product of a middling 
sized tree, is about eight China catties, or nearly eleven pounds, and of a large one, double that quantity. 
The Camphor thus found is called Se Tantong. 
Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Camphor is imported into . this country in chests and 
and casks, chiefly from Japan, in small granular, or friable masses, and is afterwards purified by sublimation, 
in low flat-bottomed glass vessels, placed in sand, for that purpose. It is usually obtained in large cakes, 
concave on one side, and convex on the other, and generally perforated. It has a strong, peculiar, fragrant 
odour, and a bitter, acrid taste. It is white, transparent, unctuous to the touch, easily frangible, exhibiting 
a foliated or crystalline structure. It is not altered by exposure to the atmospheric air ; but if it be not 
kept in well-stopt vessels, especially during warm weather, it evaporates completely. When sublimed in 
close vessels, it crystallizes in hexagonal plates or pyramids. It is somewhat ductile, but may be pulverized 
by moistening it with alcohol, and triturating it till dry. It is insoluble in water ; but it communicates to 
that liquid a certain portion of its peculiar odour. It swims on water, its specific gravity being 3.9887. It 
dissolves readily in alcohol, and is precipitated again by water. It is also soluble in ether, acetic acid, the 
diluted mineral acids, the fixed and volatile oils, and unites with and converts the resins into a soft tenacious 
mass. When heat is applied to camphor it is volatilized ; when heated under pressure, it melts at 288°, and 
boils at the temperature of 403°. It is decomposed by the strong sulphuric acid, forming artificial tannin ; 
and by repeatedly distilling it with nitric acid, camphoric acid is obtained. When exposed to a strong heat 
it is decomposed, and resolved into a volatile oil, carbonic and camphoric acids, and carburetted hydrogen, a 
portion of carbonaceous matter remaining. According to Dr. Ure’s analysis, camphor is composed of one 
atom of oxygen, nine of hydrogen, and ten of carbon. 
Camphor, or a substance analogous to it, exists in several other vegetables besides the Laurus and 
Dryobalanops; as mint, thyme, marjoram, and many other plants, and is held in solution by the essential 
oils obtained from them ; Zea tells us that in South America he found a tree, from the bark of which cam- 
phor exudes in the form of tears. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — There is still some difference of opinion respecting the action 
of camphor on the animal system ; by some it has been regarded as a stimulant, while others maintain that 
it possesses considerable sedative powers. Its primary operation is that of an excitant, but its stimulant 
action is not very considerable. In moderate doses it increases the heat of the body, softens and increases 
the fulness of the pulse, and excites diaphoresis. In a large dose, it diminishes the force of the circulation, 
induces sleep, and sometimes produces delirium, vertigo, convulsions, or coma — effects which are best coun- 
teracted by wine and opium. As a stimulant, camphor has been used in typhus, cynanche maligna, malignant 
measles, confluent small-pox, and other febrile affections accompanied with debility ; in gangrene combined 
with wine and bark ; and in various spasmodic diseases ; as hysteria, asthma, chorea, and epilepsy. As a 
sedative, it has been employed for allaying pain and irritation in pneumonia, acute rheumatism, small- 
pox, gout, mania; and inflammatory fevers, where evacuations have been previously employed. In 
these cases, it is usually combined with antimonials and nitre. It is employed externally in frictions, dis- 
solved in oils, alcohol, or acetic acid, as an anodyne in rheumatism and muscular pains, and as a discutient in 
bruises and inflammatory affections. In collyria, it is of advantage in ophthalmia, and is sometimes added to 
enemas to relieve the uneasy sensations occasioned by ascarides. Combined with opium, it is useful as a 
local application in tooth-ache. 
Dose. — From gr. v. to 9 j. diffused in almond emulsion. 
Off. Prep. — Mistura Camphor®, L. D. Emulsio Camphorata, L. E. D. Tinct. Camph. comp. 
L. E. D. Acid. Acetos. Camphoratum. E. D. Linim. Camphor®, L. E. D. Lin. Camphor®, comp. L. 
Lin. Hydrarg. L. Lin. Saponis, L. E. Lin. Sapo. c. Opio, E. D. 
