The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-09-03
THE CURIOSITY SHOP.

Some Interesting Facts About the To
illogical Gardens Of the Wsrld.
The greatest geological garden in the
world is that In London, being sienatsd In
the very hs1rt Of the city. aud . pubic
street running through il which divides il
into two sections. Walls are erected aiong
the street. and visitors go from one section
to another by means Of q tznnel pss>ing
under the street. The grounds comprise
about sixty acres, and are well filed with
buildings, ponds, etc. There are real
beaver ponds. Aviarfes, bear pits, monkey
houses-in short, place for everything in
the animal line. This park wa opened in
1s2S, and during the last ave years the an
nual number of visitors has sverAgnd scout
zoo, 600, while in 1886 there were added 70
the collection of animals !, 5sS.
The Berlin park Is ranked by nAturalists
next 10 that Of London, and the two in
Paris, if combined, wose nj make one as ex-
tensive as any in the world.
In the Unitod States the Philadelphia
600" is the most extensive so far -
buildings and colls~tiOns go, and the In
closure comprises Shirty-thre acres OF
Paramount park The Cincinnati Zoolog-
zeal park embraces sixty-7ve acres Of sub
urban land and was opened in 1873 The
Chicago gardens are in the central part
of the city, and have one OF the finest herds
of buffalo to DO seen. In New York the
collection of animals are kept IN Central
park There arc in all forty-elght zoolog-
ical gardens in the world, six OF them
being in the United States.
Curious Facts About tho CamPhOr Tree.
The new smokeless gunpowdar which
has been invented in Europe and n num-
Der Of other Articles are being mAnufAct-
ured from csmphor. These new departures
have created an unusual demand for cam
phor, and the capphor tree in consequence
Is an object Of considerable interest.
The camphor tree, G. officinarum, from
which the product Is derived, is n native OF
Japan, China and ForInosa. The tree, &c
cording TO California Fruit Grower. does
fully as weH in California as In those eoun-
tries, in fact in some sections grows much
more rapidly. These fine trees are 20 DO
found in ornamental gre unds and yards In
nearly every part % the state. shey having
proven 10 be entirely hardy, free from In
sects Of all sorts, and not over particular
regarding culture, soil and location. The
obtaining OF the campher Of eummeros Is
attended by The severe pruning OF the trees.
In Japan the 'oaInphor 10 extracted by
chopping the wood Of the branches and
sometimes the trunk OF the tree into small
Fragments. which are introduced into a
still with water. Heat Is applied. and the
resulting steam generated carries the cam
phor gum with il in vapor This vapor "
made - pass through fDo straw, around
which the oamphOr solidihss, aud Is denos-
tied in minute grains or crystals Of the
general appearance Of raw sugar. This ac-
cumulation is oarnpbor m It's impure state
To purify It tho granules are detained from
the straw and about ten pounds Of the sub
stance Is INTRODUCED into a large globular
glass vessel This Is heated. aud the first
steam that arises is allowed 10 escape
through q small aperture. This Aper-
ture il then eloSod, and the eAmphor re-
solidihes IN the upper part Of the vessel.
forming a largo cake and leaving all Inn
purftins babind- Tho h1.sk Is cooled and
broken by throwing cold water upon IL.
and the oamphor when taken out Il ready
for market.