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L A U 
chafed on the fpot at the rate of fix Spanifti dollars the 
pound, or eight dollars the catty for the belt fort; which 
fells.at the China market for about twelve or fifteen hun¬ 
dred dollars the pecvjl of one hundred catties, or one hun¬ 
dred thirty-three- pounds and a third. The traders ufu- 
rdly diftinguifli three degrees of quality, by the names of 
head, belly, and foot, according to its purity and white- 
nefs. Some add a fourth fort, of extraordinary finenefs, 
of which a few pounds only are imported to Canton, and 
fell there at the rate of two thoufand dollars the pecul. 
It has been generally fuppofed that the Chinefe mix the 
camphor of Sumatra and Borneo with their own and the 
japanefe. But the truth feems to be, that they purchafe 
the former for their own ufe, from an idea of its fuperior 
efficacy, and export the latter as a drug they hold in no 
elfirnation. It is certain that the common camphor will 
evaporate till it wholly difappears ; whereas that of Su¬ 
matra and Borneo, called native camphor, though doubt- 
lefs from its volatility it mult be fubjeft to fome decreafe, 
does not appear to lofe much in quantity from being kept. 
Camphor-oil is a valuable domeltic medicine, much 
ufed by the Sumatrans in ftrains, fweliings, and inflamma¬ 
tions; the particles, from their extreme fubtilty, readily 
entering the pores. It is not manufaflured, undergoes 
no preparation, and, though termed an oil, is rather a li¬ 
quid and volatile refin, without any oily quality. To 
procure it, they make a tranfverfe incifion into the tree, 
to the depth of fome inches, and then cut Hoping down¬ 
wards from above the notch, till they leave a flat hori¬ 
zontal furface. This they hollow out, till it is of a capa¬ 
city to receive a quart. They then put into the hollow 
a bit of lighted reed, and let it remain for about ten mi¬ 
nutes, which, afting as a ftimulus, draws the fluid to that 
part. In the fpace of a night, the liquor fills the recep¬ 
tacle prepared for it; and the tree continues to yield a 
fmaller quantity for three fucceflive nights, when fire mult 
be again applied ; but on a few repetitions it is exhaufted. 
An oil not much unlike this from the camphor-tree is 
procured from another tree by the fame method. It is 
called meenia cayoo , or wood-oil, and is ufed to rub on 
timber expofed to the weather, to preferve it from decay; 
and it is alfo boiled with the dammar to pay the bottom of 
Ihips and boats. 
Camphor is confidered as one of the principal diapho¬ 
retics and antifeptics, and as poffeffing a degree of ano¬ 
dyne or antifpafmodic power. It is a medicine of a fub- 
tile and penetrating nature, and quickly dift’ufes itlelf 
through the whole habit. If taken in confiderable quan¬ 
tity, it produces an uneafy fenfation in the llomach, though 
it does not heat the body fo much as might be expected 
trom its tafte : on the contrary, it often rather occafions 
a fenfe of coolnefs. In acute difeafes it is given from a 
quarter of a grain to one or two grains or more, in con¬ 
junction with nitre or other anti-inflammatory medicines 
of the faline kind. Hoffman obferves that it anfwers beft 
on the approach of a crifis, or in the decline ; and that it 
Ihould be ufed with caution during the height of fever, 
where the heat is great and the fkin dry; and the fame 
caution, he adds, fliould be obferved in plethoric habits, 
&c. In chronical diforders it is ufed more freely ; and 
fiometimes is taken in conjunction with opium. It is con- 
jidered as a corrector of the irritating powers of cantha- 
rides. Camphor alone has fometimes been known to cure 
that peculiar fpecies of fpafmodic diforder called St. Vi¬ 
tus’s dance. Camphor is alfo ufed in a dilfolved ffate in 
fpirit of wine, &c. as an external embrocation in rheu¬ 
matic pains, paralytic numbnefs, &c. See. It is alfo made 
an ingredient in many other preparations. 
4. Laurus culilaban, the clove-laurel, or coelit lawan : 
leaves triple-nerved, oppofite. Loureiro deferibes his L. 
caryophylius, which is probably this fpecies, as a middle- 
fized tree, with brachiate and fomewhat fpreading boughs. 
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, quite entire, with three termi¬ 
nating nerves, fmooth, an inch and a half long, dufky- 
' green above, glaucous beneath, petioled, alternate, and 
RtJ$, 
oppofite. Bark and root dufky red, having the fnnell and 
tafte of cloves, whence Loureiro’s trivial name. Linnaeus 
recommends the fructification to be examined, on account 
of the Angularity of a Laurus having oppofite leaves. 
But it appears that the leaves are not confrantly oppofite, 
and that the fructification is that of Laurus. (The L. 
aeftivalis is however deferibed in the Hort. Kew. as having, 
oppofite leaves.) Native of the Ball Indies and Cochin- 
china. 
5. Laurus montana, or mountain laurel: leaves tri¬ 
ple-nerved ; ovate-acuminate, perennial 5 flowers raceme, 
panicled. Native of Jamaica. 
6. Laurus chloroxylon, Jamaica laurel, or green¬ 
wood : leaves three-nerved, ovate, coriaceous; nerves 
reaching the tip. This tree l'ifes by a ftrong branched 
trunk to a very confiderable height; the inward bark is 
of a light blood colour, and inclofes a ifrong greenifh 
timber, which has given occafion to the trivial name of 
Linnaeus, taken from Browne’s generic appellation. Leaves 
fmooth, with three confiderable arched nerves, refembling 
thofe of the camphor-tree in fhape, fize, and texture. Fruit 
fcattered up and down upon the branches, feldom exceed¬ 
ing a hazel-nut in fize. Wood very tough and hard/an- 
lwering better than any other fort for the cogs in the rolls 
of a fugar-mill. Generally efteemed one of the beft tim¬ 
ber-woods in the ifland of Jamaica, and ufed on all occa¬ 
fions where Itrength and durability are required. Browne 
calls it green-heart or cogwood-tree. 
7. Laurus glauca, glaucous laurel, or candle-tree: 
leaves nerved, lanceolate, perennial ; branchlets tuber- 
cled; flowers folitary. This is a tree with fpreading 
branches, rugged with raifed dots, but without any pu- 
befcence ; alh-coloured. The exprefled oil of the nuts is 
ufed for making candles in Japan, of which country it is 
a native. 
8. Laurus pedunculata, or peduncled laurel: leaves 
nerved, oblong, entire ; flowers folitary, peduncled. Na¬ 
tive of Japan. 
9. Laurus nobilis, or common fweetbay : leaves ovate- 
lanceolate, perennial, veined, fhining; (fee Botany - 
Plate IV. fig. 49.) axils of the veins glandular under¬ 
neath ; flowers in very fhort racemes. The laurus, or bay, 
has been celebrated in all ages, and hence is called nobilis 
by Linnaeus. With us it appears as a flirub, but in the 
fouthern parts of Europe it becomes a tree of twenty or 
thirty feet in height; much fubjeCt however in general to 
put out fuckers. Leaves evergreen, of a firm texture, the 
largeft from an inch and half to two inches in breadth in 
the broad-leaved variety, and from three to four inches in 
length, entire, on fhort petioles, having an agreeable 
fmell, and an aromatic, fubacrid, bitterifh, tafte. Flowers 
dioecous, or male and female on different trees, in ra¬ 
cemes fhorter than the leaves, of an herbaceous colour. 
Corollas four-petalled in the male flowers, with from eight 
to twelve ftamens. Berry fuperior, ovate, flefliy, dark 
purple, almoft black. .Receptacle none, except a fmall tu¬ 
bercle at the bottom, whence a vafcular band rifes on each 
fide the whole length of the feed ; which is large, ovate, 
flightly mucronate above. Native of the fouthern parts 
of Europe, and of Afia. Ray obferved it not uncommon 
in woods and hedges in Italy. Haller fays it abounds in 
all the orchards about Moutru, near the lake of Geneva. 
According to Scopoli, it is found in the woods of Iffria. 
Bellonius remarked it on mount Ida, and very large trees 
on mount Athos. St. Pierre obferves that fine bay-trees 
are no-where more common than on the banks of the ri¬ 
ver Peneus in Thefialy, which’ might well give occafion 
to the fable of the metamorphofis of Daphne, daughter of 
that river. Pallas fets it down as a native of the Cherfo- 
nefus Taurica, See. It is wild alfo in the fouth of France, 
Spain, Crete, and many parts of the Levant. In England, 
it was cultivated certainly in 1562, as we learn from Tur¬ 
ner ; probably much earlier. 
Miller makes three forts of the fweet bay. 1. The 
broad-leaved bay of Alia, Spain, and Italy, almoft too 
tender 
