The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1905-06-16
CAMPH0R HAS
MANY VIRTUES
Drug Is Used in Medicine Both
as a StimuIant and
Sedative.
BULK OF 1T is IMPORTED
1t Is a Product of the Far East, but its
Cultivation Has Been introduced
in Java and the West
Indies.

London Health: Camphor is used
In medicine. both outwardly and in
wardly, sometimes as a temporary
stimulant and sometimes as a sedative.
Everybody has heard of the use Of
camphor drops for persons liable to
fainting fits. 1t Is frequently employed
in govt and r"eumatiism. In small
doses it acts as an anodyne and anti
spasmodic, but in large doses it Is an
irritant poison. The alcoholic solution
and the liniments in which it is the
.hief Ingredient are much used for
external applications. for spratns and
bruises, chilblains, and ever for incipi-
ent paralysis. The employment Of
Camphor as a medicine in England Is
not very old: 1t was used In Germany
before 1t became known in England,
and In medical books of the last cen
fury it was called Campfire" All
kinds Of healing properties were
ascribed 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 a cure
for hypochondriaSis. and to be useful
in cases of epilepsy.
1t was administered mixed with vim
egar rubbed up with a mucilage OF
gum arabic. or combined with a certain
quantity Of sweet almonds. There cam
not be any doubt that camphor has
many medicinal uses, and could be Ill
spared from the pharmacopoeia, but
there Is some consolation to be Jul
in the fact that II Is possible to pre-
pare artificial camphor by the mutual
action of hydrochloride acid gas and
oil OF %turpentine, which produces a
white substance possessing a camphor-
like odor and which Is soluble in alco-
hol. Camphor, condiments and the
cordial which he himself invented, and
to which he gave his own name. were
the three chief species recommended
for the cure of almost every ailment
to which human flesh Is heir by the
skillful chemist and fervid republican.
Raspail. Year after year. in his once
popular Almanack, the virtues of cam
phor were extolled. and. could the
French savant revisit the glimpses Of
the 100 his spirit would be sorely
troubled by the intelligence that, in all
probability. there Is likely to be a
scarcity Of camphor. Since the war
the imports Of the ordorous drug have
fallen off to a prodigious extent. 1t Is
not only, however, on Japan that we
depend for camphor.
Almost all the camphor of IN
Is the product of the camphor laurel
OF CaInpI!OT Tree, WNlCN ~ d IldtlNe NOt
only Of Japan, but Of China. Cochin
China, and Formosa, and It's cultiva-
ton has been Introduced into Java
and the West Indies, two regions which
nave certainly not been affected by the
war in the far east The Chinese, cam
phor tree ia found In Kwang ST and
Sukien, and afford both timber and
gum for expectation and domestic use
The gum Is procured from the branch
es, leaves and chips by first soaking
them in water until the liquid be-
cones saturated with 1t, when 1t is
turned out into an earthen basin TIC
coagulate. and undergoes other treat
ment. 1t comes to market in a crude
tate. and Is usually again refined after
reaching Europe. Their Is also an oil
extracted from camphor, which rarely
comes to Europe. and the article made
In Borneo and Sumatra Is so much es-
teemed in the east that even in mar
kets of Japan 200 pounds of camphor
Of the latter country used to be given
in exchange for one pound Of the pro-
duct Of the former. The Borean cam
phor Is white, like chalk, but has the
same smell and taste as that of China
and Japan. The natives ascribe ex.
traordinary medicinal virtues to 1t. anG
frequently hang it, powdered, in bags
around their neckS or around theil
waists, wrists and ankles, and curl
ously enough. his use Of powdered
camphor vas strongly advocated BY
Raspail.