444 
Camphor  Motions. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1885. 
often  as  required,  and  a  pound  bottle  of  crystals,  or  of  the  impure 
-acid  will  thus  make  about  2 J  gallons  of  the  strong  solution. 
When  the  weak  solution  is  wanted  it  may  be  made  from  the  strong 
by  adding  to  each  measure  of  it  1 J  measures  of  water.  That  is,  one 
bottle  of  the  strong  solution  will  make  two  and  a  half  bottles  of  the 
weak. 
This  weak  solution  is  quite  benumbing  to  the  skin  if  applied  for 
any  considerable  length  of  time. — Epheineris,  July,  1885,  p.  829. 
NOTE  ON  CAMPHOR  MOTIONS. 
By  p.  Casamajor. 
On  the  4th  of  October,  1877,  I  read  a  paper  ''On  the  Motions  of 
Oamphor  on  the  Surface  of  Water,"  before  the  American  Chemical 
Society,  in  which  I  described  experiments,  which  had  led  me  to  the 
conclusion  that  these  motions  were  due  to  electricity. 
The  extraordinary  motions  which  give  an  appearance  of  life  to 
pieces  of  camphor,  swimming  on  tiie  surface  of  water,  are  not  to  be 
seen  at  all  times.  Very  often  camphor  will  remain  motionless,  while 
at  other  times  the  pieces  gyrate  with  great  animation.  One  of  the 
■earliest  observers  of  these  singular  motions,  Romien  (1748),  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  they  were  due  to  electricity,  while  subsequent  inves- 
tigators, among  whom  may  be  counted  the  great  Volta,  have  generally 
decided  that  there  is  no  connection  between  electricity  and  the  motion 
■of  camphor  on  water. 
I  was  led  to  believe  that  camphor  motions  were  due  to  electricity  by 
the  results  of  experiments,  of  which  I  will  give  a  brief  account. 
When  pieces  of  camphor  are  thrown  on  water,  they  may  remain 
torpid  or  they  may  gyrate  with  every  appearance  of  life.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  motions  may  be  instantly  arrested  by  dipping  a  finger 
in  the  water  on  which  camphor  moves.  If  we  have  pieces  of  camphor 
lying  quietly  on  water,  they  may  be  made  to  move  by  dipping  into  the 
water  a  rod  of  either  glass,  sealing  wax  or  vulcanite,  electrified  by  fric- 
tion. After  every  immersion  the  glass  is  to  be  dried  by  wiping  with 
a  dry  cloth  or  a  piece  of  bibulous  paper ;  and,  before  every  immersion, 
the  rod  is  electrified  by  rubbing  with  a  piece  of  silk  or  flannel.  After 
one  or  more  immersions  of  the  electrified  rod,  the  camphor  motions 
invariably  start,  and  by  a  few  additional  immersions  they  increase  in 
