58  Camphor— Natural  and  Synthetic.  {^bm^mT' 
camphor  was  about  8  cents  per  pound.  The  Japanese  Government 
assumed  a  monopoly  of  camphor  in  1899,  after  the  Chino-Japanese 
War.  In  1903  the  price  was  about  30  cents  per  pound.  At  the 
time  of  the  Russo-Japanese  War,  in  1905,  the  price  of  camphor  rose 
to  over  a  dollar  per  pound,  and  in  1906  and  1907  it  was  about  60 
cents  per  pound.  While  camphor  was  at  its  highest  price  chemists 
succeeded  in  working  out  the  synthetic  processes  outlined  above, 
and  the  manufacture  was  commenced  in  Germany,  France,  and 
England.  In  1909  the  Japanese,  with  large  stores  on  hand,  reduced 
the  price  of  Japanese  camphor  to  about  30  cents  per  pound,  a  price 
at  which  it  was  impossible  to  manufacture  the  synthetic  article. 
The  French  and  English  companies  were  unable  to  overcome  financial 
difficulties,  and  it  is  believed  that  in  1910  only  one  factory  was  still 
making  synthetic  camphor — the  Chemische  Fabrik  a.  A.  vorm.  E. 
Schering.  The  price  of  camphor  at  the  end  of  19 10  was  about  35 
cents  per  pound,  and  the  profits  from  the  Formosan  monopoly  for 
the  fiscal  year  ending  March  31,  19 10,  amounted  to  no  less  than 
$1,982,966,  with  a  total  production  of  4,000,000  kilogrammes.17 
During  the  last  four  years  the  price  of  camphor  has  not  varied  greatly, 
but  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war  has  resulted  in  another  rapid 
advance  in  price  to  about  double  the  normal  value. 
Synthetic  camphor  is  now  being  manufactured  in  Germany  by 
the  Rheinische  Kampfer  Fabrik  in  Dusseldorf.  How  long  this 
company  will  be  able  to  continue  in  operation  is  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. 
When  much  is  being  said  of  the  opportunity  of  American  chem- 
ical manufacturers  to  produce  materials  hitherto  imported  from 
Germany,  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  record  that  a  start  is  to  be  made 
on  the  manufacture  of  synthetic  camphor  in  Philadelphia,  early  in 
191 5,  by  the  American  Camphor  Corporation. 
As  to  the  future  of  synthetic  camphor,  it  would  be  rash  to 
prophesy. 
The  Japanese  Government  is  now  thoroughly  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  conservation  of  camphor  trees.  Extensive  replanting 
has  been  commenced,  but  many  years  will  elapse  before  these  trees 
will  yield  camphor.  All  of  the  trees  in  readily  accessible  locations 
have,  been  cut  down,  and,  though  immense  camphor  forests  still 
exist,  they  are  in  mountainous  districts  of  the  interior,  inhabited  by 
savage  tribes. 
17  C hem.  Abst.,  1910,  3120. 
