36  Camphor:  Growth  and  Manufacture.  {Am/a™ri£2.arm* 
specimens  of  Maracaibo  and  Para  copaiba,  a  brownish-red  coloration 
was  produced.  A  sample  of  gurjun  balsam,  however,  gave  a 
decided  and  permanent  violet. 
Neither  of  the  two  oleo-resins  (A)  and(B)  lost  their  fluidity  when 
heated  in  a  sealed  tube  to  2200  C,  whilst  gurjun  balsam  similarly 
treated  became  quite  solid. 
That  the  two  African  oleo-resins  are  identical,  therefore,  admits 
of  little  doubt,  and  their  general  characteristics  resemble  in  most 
particulars  the  South  American  copaibas,  the  only  commercial 
varieties  with  which  we  have  been  previously  acquainted. 
I  hope  shortly  to  publish  the  results  of  a  chemical  examination 
of  the  crystals  and  volatile  oils  obtained  from  the  two  African  oleo- 
resins. — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Dec.  5,  1 891,  p.  450. 
CAMPHOR:  METHODS  OF  GROWTH  AND  MANUFAC- 
TURE IN  FORMOSA. 
By  Edward  Bedloe. 
[Correspondence  of  the  Public  Ledger,  Nov.  17,  1891.] 
The  most  interesting  portion  of  my  district  of  "  Amoy  and  its 
dependencies,"  to  use  the  diplomatic  phrase,  is  the  great  island  of 
Formosa.  The  name  (the  Portuguese  adjective  for  beautiful)  is 
extremely  appropriate,  for  I  question  if  any  handsomer  or  more  pic- 
turesque scenery  can  be  found  upon  the  globe.  The  territory  is 
over  200  miles  long  and  60  wide,  and  is  about  as  large  as  England, 
Scotland  and  Wales  combined.  Along  its  major  axis  runs  a  double 
range  of  magnificent  mountains,  several  of  whose  summits  are 
constantly  covered  with  snow.  The  fertility  of  the  soil  is  proverbial 
in  the  East.  At  some  points  the  land  produces  from  three  to  five 
harvests  a  year.  Besides  the  best  tea  in  the  market,  it  produces 
unlimited  quantities  of  camphor,  sugar,  rice,  hemp,  oil,  oil  cake, 
castor  oil,  turmeric  and  valuable  woods.  It  ought  to  have  an 
mmense  commerce  with  every  part  of  the  world,  but  it  has  not, 
which  is  due  to  the  time-beaten  prejudice  of  its  governing  classes 
against  foreigners  and  everything  foreign. 
Nowhere  does  the  force  of  this  blind  prejudice  show  itself  in  so 
large  and  ruinous  an  extent  as  with  the  trade  in  camphor  and  cam- 
phor wood.  From  the  earliest  times  camphor  has  been  a  practical 
necessity  to  man.    Its  pleasant  perfume,  its  destructiveness  to 
