Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
October,  1897.  J 
Camphor  Tree. 
513 
be  expected  to  do  the  same  when  cut,  especially  if  cut  late  in  the 
fall.  Experiments  are  needed  to  determine  whether  this  growth 
may  be  depended  upon,  or  whether  it  will  be  more  profitable  to  dig 
out  the  larger  roots  and  set  out  new  seedlings. 
DISTILLATION  OF  CAMPHOR  IN  JAPAN. 
In  the  native  forests  in  Formosa,  Fukien  and  Japan  camphor  is 
distilled  almost  exclusively  from  the  wood  of  the  trunks,  roots  and 
larger  branches.  The  work  is  performed  by  hand  labor,  and  the 
methods  employed  seem  rather  crude.  Different  methods  of  distilla- 
tion are  employed  in  different  districts,  but  those  in  use  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Tosa,  in  Japan,  appear  to  be  the  most  skilful.  The  camphor 
trees  are  felled,  and  the  trunk,  larger  limbs,  and  sometimes  the  roots, 
are  cut  into  chips  by  hand  labor  with  a  sharp  concave  adz. 
The  fresh  chips  are  placed  in  a  wooden  tub  about  40  inches  high 
and  20  inches  in  diameter  at  the  base,  tapering  toward  the  top  like 
an  old-fashioned  churn.  The  perforated  bottom  of  the  tub  fits  tightly 
over  an  iron  pan  of  water  on  a  furnace  of  masonry.  The  tub  has  a 
tight-fitting  cover,  which  may  be  removed  to  put  in  the  chips.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  layer  of  earth  about  6  inches  thick  to  aid  in  retain- 
ing a  uniform  temperature.  A  bamboo  tube  extends  from  near  the 
top  of  the  tub  into  the  condenser.  This  consists  of  two  wooden  tubs 
of  diffe/ent  sizes,  the  larger  one  right  side  up,  kept  about  two-thirds 
full  of  water  from  a  continuous  stream  which  runs  out  of  a  hole  in 
one  side.  The  smaller  one  is  inverted  with  its  edges  below  the 
water,  forming  an  air-tight  chamber.  This  air  chamber  is  kept  cool 
by  the  water  falling  on  the  top  and  running  down  over  the  sides. 
The  upper  part  of  the  air  chamber  is  sometimes  filled  with  clean 
rice  straw,  on  which  the  camphor  crystallizes,  while  the  oil  drips 
down  and  collects  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  In  some  cases  the 
camphor  gum  and  oil  are  allowed  to  collect  together  on  the  surface 
of  the  water,  and  are  afterward  separated  by  filtration  through  rice 
straw  or  by  pressure. 
About  twelve  hours  are  required  for  distilling  a  tubful  by  this 
method.  Then  the  chips  are  removed  and  dried  for  use  in  the  fur- 
nace, and  a  new  charge  is  put  in.  At  the  same  time  the  camphor 
and  oil  are  removed  from  the  condenser.  By  this  method  20 
to  40  pounds  of  chips  are  required  for  1  pound  of  crude  camphor 
gum. 
