214  Botany  and  Materia  Medica.  {AmiJp0rii%h6arm' 
keting.  The  leaves  are  collected  in  the  fall  and  winter  months,  and 
are  allowed  to  wilt  for  a  couple  of  days.  They  are  then  placed  in  a 
still,  consisting  of  a  cask  about  2  feet  high,  open  at  both  ends,  and 
of  a  diameter  suitable  to  place  over  a  large  Chinese  frying-pan.  The 
pan  is  filled  with  water,  and  over  this  is  placed  a  coarse  sieve  of 
woven  bamboo.  The  cask  is  cemented  with  clay  to  the  edge  of  the 
pan,  and,  after  receiving  its  charge  of  30  or  40  pounds  of  leaves,  a 
large  brass  basin  is  placed  on  the  upper  end  of  the  cask  and  is  filled 
with  cold  water,  which  is  frequently  changed.  Fire  is  placed  under 
the  frying-pan,  and  distillation  is  continued  for  about  four  hours.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  the  bottom  of  the  basin  is  found  to  be  coated 
with  a  layer  of  crystallized  substance  about  y1-^  inch  thick.  This  is 
the  crude  camphor,  or  ngai-fen.  About  15,000  pounds  of  this  crude 
camphor  is  annually  shipped  from  Hainan  to  Canton,  where  it  is 
refined,  and  is  then  known  as  ngai-pien. 
Kew  Bulletin,  November,  1895,  P-  293- 
There  are  three  sorts  of  sumach  known  in 
commerce.  Venetian  sumach  or  young  fustic 
consists  of  the  twigs  of  Rhus  Cotinus.  This 
yields  a  bright  yellow  dye,  much  used  in  calico  printing.  North 
American  sumach  is  yielded  by  Rhus  glabra,3  the  fruit,  leaves  and 
bark  being  used  for  their  astringent  properties  in  tanning  leather. 
The  sumach  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  one  more  widely  used, 
addition  to  Blumea  balsamifera  and  B.  densiflora,  which  are  considered  by  some 
botanists  as  identical,  B.  aromatica  and  B.  lacera  are  considered  by  the  Hindus 
to  be  deobstruent  and  resolvent,  and  particularly  useful  in  the  disease  of  the 
nose  called  Ahuah.  The  powdered  leaves  are  given  internally  in  2-drachm 
doses  mixed  with  butter,  and  also  used  as  a  snuff.  The  juice  of  the  leaves  is 
placed  in  the  eye  to  cure  chronic  purulent  discharges;  it  is  also  used  as  an  an- 
thelmintic and  astringent." 
Stearoptens  have  been  observed  in  several  other  composites,  notably  in 
Chrysanthemum  Parthenium,  Pers.,  and  Inula  Helenium,  L.  The  genus 
Pluchea,  likewise  belonging  to  the  tribe  Inuloideae,  and  closely  related  to  Blu- 
mea, is  represented  by  several  species  in  America.  P.  bifrons,  DeC,  and  P.  cam- 
phorata,  DeC. ,  are  the  Atlantic  seacoast  representatives.  While  they  have  not 
yet  been  chemically  examined,  their  characteristic  odor  indicates  that  a  cam- 
phoraceous  principle  is  most  likely  present.  G.  M.  B. 
3  The  Kew  Bulletin  was  evidently  misinformed  about  North  American 
sumach.  While  some  of  it  is  obtained  from  Rhus  glabra,  the  great  bulk  is 
gathered  from  R.  copallina,  chiefly  because  the  latter  species  yields  a  larger 
percentage  of  tannin  than  any  other  sumach  in  America.  R.  glabra  is  the 
only  one  specified  by  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia. — Editor  Am.  Jour.  Phar. 
