Am*ja°n.a89iarm'}  Camphor:  Growth  and  Manufacture.  37 
insect  life  and  its  many  remarkable  therapeutic  virtues  have  more 
than  earned  its  great  popularity. 
In  the  past  twenty  years  its  importance  has  been  multiplied  many 
times  by  the  discovery  of  celluloid,  zylonite  and  smokeless  powders, 
in  all  of  which  it  is  an  essential  ingredient.  While  the  camphor 
tree  grows  in  numberless  places,  it  finds  its  best  development  in 
Japan,  and,  above  all,  in  Formosa.  In  the  last-named  place  it  is  the 
predominant  forest  growth.  The  trees  upon  the  island  are  to  be 
numbered,  not  by  hundreds^of  thousands,  but  by  millions.  At  the 
present  time  there  is  enough  camphor  in  Formosa  to  supply  all 
Christendom  for  a  century.  Yet,  notwithstanding  these  facts,  the 
output  of  the  entire  island  in  1890  was  only  about  60  tons  ! 
The  camphor  expert  selects  a  tree,  and  scrapes  into  the  trunk  in 
different  places,  using  an  instrument  resembling  somewhat  in 
appearance  a  rake,  with  teeth  of  curved,  gouge-shaped  edges  that 
cut  pulling.  This  scoops  out  the  wood  in  little  crescent-shaped 
chips.  A  tree  is  not  considered  to  be  worth  anything  for  camphor 
purposes  until  it  is  50  years  old.  The  yield  of  a  tree  is  unequal, 
being  greater  in  and  about  the  roots  than  higher  up  on  the  trunk. 
The  scrapings  or  chips  are  pounded  in  a  stone  or  iron  mortar  and 
boiled  in  a  large  iron  caldron,  over  which  is  placed,  with  the  con- 
cave side  covering  the  mouth  of  the  caldron,  an  earthenware  bowl- 
shaped  vessel.  In  the  boiling  the  camphor  sublimes  and  condenses 
on  the  inside  of  the  big  bowl,  which  is  removed  from  time  to  time, 
the  camphor  scraped  off  and  replaced. 
The  root  and  trunk  are  scraped  while  the  yield  lasts,  and  the 
chipping  is  continued  till  finally  the  tree  falls.  No  attempt  is  made 
to  extract  the  camphor  from  the  trunk  or  branches  of  the  fallen 
tree.  In  some  cases  the  trunk  is  sawed  up  into  planks,  but  this 
depends  upon  the  locality.  In  many  districts,  owing  to  absence  of 
roads,  timber  would  not  pay  for  its  transport.  It  is  impossible  to 
imagine  a  more  wasteful  method,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  the 
camphcr  forests  of  Formosa  are  practically  inexhaustible.  The 
quantity  of  camphor  produced  depends  upon  the  amount  of  labor 
employed  in  the  business.  Ten  iron  pots  and  accompanying  bowls 
make  up  what  is  called  a  "  set,"  and  are  worked  by  four  men.  One 
set  will  produce  about  six  pounds  a  day;  a  fair  average  is  150 
pounds  a  month. 
At  one  time  the  camphor  trade  was  monopolized  by  the  Governor 
