406 
Natural  Camphor  Oils. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharin^ 
t      Aug.,  1885. 
The  resin  of  X.  quadrangulata  is  dark,  glossy  and  of  an  agreeable 
odor  resembling  that  of  honey  and  benzoin;  on  exposure  it  becomes 
somewhat  powdery,  but  is  also  found  as  small  globular  masses  at  the 
base  of  the  trunk.  X.  arborea  has  the  persistent  bases  of  the  leaves 
of  previous  years  very  short,  and  the  resin  is  rather  difficult  to  collect  ; 
the  yield  a  of  trunk  is  about  3  pounds,  and  the  resin  is  almost  ruby 
colored. 
NATURAL  CAMPHOR  OILS. 
By  Peter  Macewan, 
Secretary  in  Scotland  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 
Natural  camphor  oils,  namely,  those  of  Dryohalanops  aromaika  diwd 
CampJiora  officinarumj  have  long  been  esteemed  as  remedial  agents  in 
the  countries  where  they  are  produced,  and  their  introduction  in  this 
country  is  considered  by  some  a  mere  question  of  time. 
The  Dryohalanops,  or  Bornean  camphor  oil,  is  a  more  simple  body 
than  laurel  camphor  oil,  consisting  chiefly  of  borneene,  an  isomer  of 
turpentine  oil,  with  a  small  quantity  of  resinous  matter.  Its  specific 
gravity  is  close  upon  O'OOO.  Johore  oil,  which  I  have  previously 
referred  to,  has  a  specific  gravity  of  0'882.  Other  samples  (for  which 
1  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Jackson,  Curator  of  the  Kew  Museum)  are 
somewhat  higher,  one  (a)  being  0*894,  and  another  {b)  0*909  :  a  is  De 
Vriese's  specimen  and  h  Mr.  Motley's ;  both  are  over  thirty  years  old. 
Sj^ecific  gravity  is  the  point  in  which  the  Bornean  oil  differs  chiefly 
from  laurel  camphor  oil,  the  former  being  much  lighter.  The  Bornean 
oil  in  its  natural  condition,  and  even  when  old,  does  not  contain  its 
peculiar  camphor  in  solution ;  hence  it  undergoes  no  change  when 
exposed  to  a  low  temperature,  which  is  another  point  of  difference 
between  it  and  the  laurel  camphor  oil ;  so,  also,  is  it  different  from  the 
fact  that  it  acquires  a  green  color,  similar  to  cajuput  oil,  when  kept  in 
contact  with  metallic  copper  for  a  day  or  two.^ 
The  Bornean  oil  does  not  appear  to  enter  the  British  drug  market, 
unless  (probably)  as  an  adulterant  of  cajuput  oil. 
The  camphor  oil  of  Formosa  was  the  only  lauraceous  kind  with 
^  The  intensity  of  the  color  varies  ;  it  was  least  with  Johore  oil  and 
greatest  with  Mr.  Motley's.  Laurel  camphor  oil  becomes  brown  or  greenish- 
brown. 
