Amd™%(£"m }  Fragrant  Woods.  265 
27  feet  in  length,  with  a  section  of  17  inches  square.  The  violet  wood  of  British 
Guiana  (Andira  violacea)  derives  its  specific  name  more  from  its  color  than  of  its 
scent. 
In  Japan  they  use  the  wood  of  a  small  tree  called  camaboc  largely  for  making 
toothpicks,  which  is  of  itself  quite  a  trade  in  that  country.  The  bark  has  a  peculiar 
and  pleasant  aromatic  flavor.  A  small  portion  of  the  bark  is  allowed  to  remain  on 
each  toothpick.    All  the  Japanese  use  them  regular  after  every  meal. 
The  odor  of  the  cinnamon  wood  is  familiar  in  domestic  economy. 
The  camphor-wood  boxes  brought  from  China  and  the  East  are  well  known  for 
their  strong  preservative  odor,  and  found  useful  for  keeping  away  moths  from 
woolens  and  furs.  The  China  and  Japan  camphor  tree  (Cinnamomum  camphora), 
Camphora  officinarum,  belongs  to  the  laurel  family,  but  that  of  Sumatra  and  Borneo 
is  the  Dryobalanops  aromatica.  Even  the  leaves  and  fruit  smell  of  camphor.  In 
Sumatra  this  tree  is  abundantly  met  with  on  the  west  coast,  chiefly  in  the  extensive 
bush,  but  seldom  in  places  more  than  1,000  ft  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  tree 
is  straight,  extraordinarily  tall,  and  has  a  gigantic  crown  which  often  overtops  the 
other  woody  giants  by  100  feet  or  so.  The  stem  is  sometimes  twenty  feet  thick. 
The  barus  camphor  of  this  island  is  the  most  esteemed  of  any,  and  it  is  for  this  drug, 
obtained  in  small  quantities — seldom  more  than  half  a  pound  to  a  tree — that  it  is 
ruthlessly  destroyed.  The  tree,  when  felled,  is  divided  into  small  pieces,  and  these 
are  afterwards  split ;  upon  which  the  camphor,  which  is  found  in  hollows  or  crevices 
in  the  body  of  the  tree,  and  above  all,  in  knots  or  swellings  of  branches  from  the 
trunks,  becomes  visible  in  the  form  of  granules  or  grains  An  essential  oil  also 
-exudes  from  the  tree  in  cutting,  which  is  sometimes  collected,  but  is  scarcely  remu- 
nerative. On  the  west  coast  of  Formosa  there  are  forests  of  camphor-wood,  and  a 
great  deal  of  crude  camphor  is  shipped  thence  to  Amoy  and  other  Chinese  ports. 
Large  quantities  of  the  wood  are  sawn  into  planks.  Tables  and  cabinets  are  then 
made  of  it,  and  it  is  also  turned  into  platters  and  washing-basins. 
Only  a  small  portion  of  the  vast  camphor  forest  of  Formosa  has  been  reclaimed 
from  its  wild  inhabitants,  and  this  consists  of  fine  tall  trees,  the  growth  of  ages. 
When  a  tree  is  felled  the  finest  part  of  the  wood  is  sawn  into  planks,  the  rest  chopped 
small  and  boiled  down  for  the  camphor. 
Camphor-wood  (D.  aromatica)  grows  in  abundance  in  the  mountains  of  Santer- 
borg,  Marang,  Sunda  and  Surgany  Water,  Borneo.  Its  girth  reaches  17  or  18  ft., 
and  the  stem  often  attains  the  height  of  90  or  100  ft.  to  the  first  branches.  The 
wood  contains  a  quantity  of  oil,  is  tough,  durable,  and,  owing  to  its  strong  scent, 
withstands  the  attacks  of  the  worm  so  destructive  in  those  seas.  Hence  it  is  much 
valued  for  ship-building.  It  takes  metal  fastenings  well  from  being  oily,  and  iron 
has  been  found  not  so  liable  to  rust  in  it. 
An  essential  oil  of  roses  from  some  undefined  wood,  called'  Aspalathum  (probably 
a  Convolvulus  or  species  of  R/iodozira),  is  distilled  in  France  and  Germany  and  sells 
at  about  £3  the  pound.  There  is  a  wood  which  comes  from  French  Guiana,  called 
there  Bois  de  rose  femelle,  believed  to  be  the  produce  of  Licaria  odorata,  which  has  a 
delicious  odor  approaching  to  bergamot,  but  being  extremely  fugitive  it  is  necessary  to 
pulverize  the  wood  at  the  moment  of  distillation.    The  essence  drawn  from  it  is  now 
