The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-19
MANY USES OF CAMPHOR.
valuable aS Sedative or Stimulant-HOW
Cultivated and Procured.


Camphor is used in medicine, both out
wardly and inwardly, sometimes as tenn
porary stimulant and sometimes as a seda-
tive. Everybody has heard Of the use Of
camphor drops for persons liable to faint
| ing fits. II is frequently employed in govt
and rheumatism. In small doses il acts
as an anodyne and antispasmodic, but in
large doses II Is an irritant poison.
/ The alcoholic SO. ution and the liniments
In which it is the chief ingredient, are much
used for external applications, for sprains
and bruises, chilblains, and even for in
cipient paralysis. The employment OF cam
phor as a medicine in England, says Health,
Is not very old; Il was used in Germany be-
fore il became known IN England, and in
medical books Of the last century il was
called campfire All kinds OF healing
properties were ascrtDed both by English
and foreign doctors TO the drug, of the
importation Of which from Japan the Dutch
had the monopoly. Camphor was said TO
be a powerful antiseptic, to be & cure for
hypochrondTiasis, and to he useful In cases
OF epilepsy.
Il was administered mixed with vinegar,
or rubbed up with a mucilage Of gum ara
bic, or combined with a certain quantity Of
sweet almonds. There cannot be any doubt
that oamphor has many medicinal uses,
and could be i'll spared from the pharma-
coppia, but there is some consolation to
be found in the fact that 1t is possible TO
prepare artificial camphor by the mutual
action Of hydrochloride acid gas and oil OF
turpentine, which produces q, white sub;
stance possessing a oamphorhke odor and
which Is soluble In alcohol.
CamphoT condiments and the cordial
which he himself invented, and 10 which
be gave his own name, were the three
chief specifics recommended tor the cure
of almost every ailment 70 which human
flesh is heir by the shlful chemist and
fervid republican, Raspal. Year after
year, in his once popular Almanaok, the
virtues Of camphor were eItoled, ana,
could the French savant revisit the glimpseS
Of the moon, his spirit would be sorely |
troubled by the intelligence that, In all
probability, there Is likely to be q scarcity !
Of camphor. Since tho war the imports
Of the odorous drug have fallen on 70
prodigious e1 mt. II is not only, how
ever, on Japan that We depend for cam I
phor.
Almost all the camphor OF commercs f. !
the product OF the camphor laurel, or com
Japan, but Of China, Cochin China, and |
Formosa, and it's cultivation has been In
troduced into Java Bnd the West Indies, 4
two regions which have certainly not been I
affected by the war In the Far East.
The Chinese camphor tree Is found In
Kwang 81 and Sukien, and affords both .
timber and gum for expectation and do
nestle use. The gum Is procured from
the branches, Raves and chips by FIRST
soaking them in wafer until the liquid be.
comes saturated with Il, when IL is turned
out into an eaTthen basin 10 congulate, and
undeTgoes other treatment. il comes 70
market in a crude state, and Is usually
again refined after reaching Europe.
There is also an oil extracted from cam
phor, which rarely comes TO Europe and
the article made in BoTneo and Sumatra
is 30 much esteemed in the East that even
in markets Of Japan 200 pounds Of cam
phor of the latter country used to be given
In exchange for one pound Of the product
of the former The Bornpan camDhor Ia
white. like chalk. but has the same smell
and taste as that Of China and Japan The
natives ascribe extraordinary medicinal
virtues 70 il, and frequently hang it.
in bags around their necks OF
around their waists, wrists and ankles,
and, curiously enough. this use Of powdered
camphor was strongly advocated by Ras-
pail.