408 
Natu7xd  Camphor  Oils. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\       Aug.,  1885. 
the  method  is  simply  distillation^  the  distillate  being  collected  and 
surrounded  with  cold  water.  Camphor  separates  out  as  a  semi-solid 
masSj  and,  in  order  to  separate  the  solid  camphor  from  the  oil,  the 
liquid  is  filtered  or  squeezed  out  through  a  cloth  bag/'  By  a  second 
distillation  more  camphor  is  obtained. 
Assuming  (owing  to  high  specific  gravity)  the  specimen  under  notice 
to  be  crude  oil  and  that  chilling  without  previous  distillation  does  not 
effect  separation  of  camphor,  I  roughly  distilled  a  small  quantity  so  as 
to  simulate  the  Japanese  method.  Very  little  came  over  below  150° 
C,  about  a  twelfth  between  that  and  170°,  a  fifth  between  175°  and 
185°,  and  nearly  the  same  up  to  205°.  None  of  these  yielded  cam- 
phor when  chilled.  So  far,  distillation  had  gone  on  for  an  hour,  and 
yet  there  was  not  a  crystal  of  camphor  about  the  condenser,  nor  did 
the  residue  yield  any  when  chilled.  The  experiment  conclusively 
proves  the  absence  of  camphor. 
According  to  Mr.  Oishi,  the  purified  oil  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
0*895,  the  crude  0'959.  My  specimen  is  0*951,  yet  it  is  the  purified 
article.  Mr.  Oishi's  experiments  explain  this.  His  results  show  that 
the  purified  oil  is  composed  to  the  extent  of  nearly  three-fourths  of 
bodies  boiling  above  170°  C,  and  these  are  heavier  than  the  more 
volatile  bodies,  the  heaviest  being  0*926.  The  oil  which  I  have 
examined  gives  little  or  no  distillate  below  140°  C,  some  between  that 
and  150°  C,  and  nearly  one  half  of  the  whole  requires  a  temperature 
up  to  205°  to  vaporize  it,  and  the  residue  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
0*995.    The  inference  is  apparent. 
So,  therefore,  the  camphor  oil  of  Jaj^an  has  the  camphor  removed 
from  it  before  it  is  sent  to  this  country,  and  in  this  condition  it  is 
(according  to  Mr.  Oishi)  a  complicated  mixture  consisting  of  hydro- 
carbons of  the  terpene  series,  oxyhydrocarbon  isomeric  with  camphor, 
and  other  oxidized  hydrocarbons."  The  camphor  isomer  distilled 
between  180°  and  185°  C,  and  constituted  from  10  to  12  per  cent,  of 
the  whole.    It  is  a  liquid. 
I  find  that  the  Japanese  oil  differs  from  the  Formosa  oil  in  its 
behavior  towards  nitric  acid.  If  half  a  drachm  of  B.P.  acid  be  allowed 
to  act  upon  a  few  drops  of  the  Japanese  oil  for  a  minute,  then  diluted 
with  half  a  drachm  of  Avater,  a  crimson  color  is  imparted  to  the  clear 
wateiy  solution ;  but  the  Formosa  oil  so  treated  gives  a  milky  solution 
having  a  scarcely  perceptible  green  shade.  Hydrochloric  acid  acquires 
a  salmon  color  with  both ;  more  marked,  however,  with  Japanese  oil. 
