The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-06-02
The CamphOr.Tree.

The tree which produces the best
camphor is indigenous to Sumatra. The
camphor-tree propagates itself in the
mountains of Sumatra, without trouble
or labor to the natives, as it grows with
ont any cultivation in the forests con-
tiououS to the sea-coast, on the north
side of the island 1t is not found ma
five TO the south of the line, nor vet
further than the third degree of latitude.
European explorers have not asyet been
able to find out the veritable name of
the tree, that is, in any of the native
languages; but there is no apparent rea-
son to doubt that its propagation is COM
nleteIy confined to the two islands of
Sumatra and Borneo. The camphor-
tree in girth and height equals the big
pest timber tree, often arriving at the
enormous size of over fifteen feet in cir
conference. The trunk is arboreous,
and its bark is of a brownish tint Its
leaves grow on short petioles, the larger
ones being alternate. the smaller oppo-
site: they average from three to four
inches in length and an inch broad.
Their form is elliptic, ending in an ex-
traordinarily long and slender point.
The fibres are straight and run parallel
to each other
Places where the camphor-tree grows
in abundance are generally considered
unhealthy, the reason probably being
the nature of the soil, and the peculiar
conditions necessary for the prosperous
state of that tree.
The name given by the natives to
camphor is Kapur Barus. The word
Kapur is derived from the SanskIit
Karpura, and also from the Arabic and
Persian Kafur, from which is obtained
our name of camphor-a corruption
from the language of the country where
the commodity is indigenous. Barus is
the name of place which forms the
principal market of this particular ar
ticle of commerce in Sumatra, and is
therefore added to the original name
by traders to distinguish it from the
similar product which is grown in Japan.
1t was formerly matter of supposition
that the people of China and Japan
concocted fictitious substance which
bore great resemblance to the native
camphor, and then impregnated this
substance with a little of its virtue by
the mixture of small quantity of the
genuine drug. The real truth of the
case has been fully ascertained, and it
is known that the Japan camphOr is the
genuine product of a tree growing in
abundance in that country, though diff
fering in quality and character from the
similar tree, native of Sumatra and
Borneo, and well known to botanical
authorities as the Taurus cdnlphora.
The camphor of Sumatra is so much
superior to that of Japan that the
Chinese easily distinguish between the
two, and reserve the former for their
own use at an eXorbitant price, and ex-
port the latter as a thing they do not
think much of. The Sumatra camphor
never by any chance reaches this
country, because it is so much esteemed
by the Chinese and other natives in the
East that its price, compared to that of
the japanese article, is in the ratio of
twenty to one, which may be attributed
rather to the superstitious virtues i'm
puted to it than to any intrinsic differ
ence in its real value.
Camphor is procurable from the tree
by two modes: the first by intlicting
wounds in the bark, from whence il
exudes; the second by the help of fire.
The drug procured by the first method
is considered much superior in quality
The most noticeable difference in the
qualities of the three kinds of camphor
consists in their volatility, Japan cam
phor procured by process of boiling
the wood, will volatilize completely
away when exposed to the action of the
air; but that procured naturally in
Japan does in some measure lose its
weight under the same circumstances
while it is asserted that the kind from
Sumatra hardly diminishes at all in
quantity by being kept.
Camphor produces an oil which is a
valuable medicine, and is much used by
the natives of Sumatra for rheumatics,
sprains, and swellings. -Harper's Ba-
zaT.