ASIATIC RESEARCHES. ON THREE NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF SUMATRA. BY JOHN MACDONALD, ESQ. ON THE CAMPHOR OF SUMATRA. IN respecting answer to some questions put to me by the Pre oil, I have the pleasure of giving the solution contained in the following short account :---Camphor-oil, one of the essential oils, is actually camphor, before the operations of nature on it have reduced it to the concrete form in which it is found in the tree. When Mr. Marsden composed his justly-admired History of Sumatra, the prevalent opinion on this subject was, that the oil and the concreted camphor were never found in the same tree. I have the authority of a gentleman, Lieutenant Lewis, well informed on this subject, from a residence of many years in the country producing the camphor, to differ from that generally accurate author, by saying, that he has seen a tree three quarters of a mile from the sea, near Tappanoolly, from which three cattics (above VOL. IV. B three pounds) of camphor, and at the same time, near two gallons of oil, had been procured. If a tree be old, and yield oil plentifully, the natives esteem these two circumstances sure indications of its containing a considerable quantity of camphor. Mr. Macquer, in his chemical dictionary, has remarked, that the nitrous acid dissolves camphor without commotion, that the solution is clear and limpid, and that it is called Camphor-Oil. This affords a proof that the formed camphor is produced from the oil by a natural operation of composition, the decomposition by means of the above solvent reducing the substance to its primary state, previous to concretion. The Achinese are reckoned the best judges of camphor; and the oil they collect undergoes a process by distillation, leaving a residuum of inferior camphor. Trees of a certain age only yield camphor. It would seem that a certain time is requisite for maturing the oil to that state, when its contained camphor becomes fit for being concreted by the heat of the sun acting on the tree and soil. The camphor-tree is one of the Enneandria Monogynia of Linnæus, and differs in a small variation in the form of the leaf, from the Arbor Camphorifera Japonica, foliis laurinis, fructu parvo, calyce brevissimo. The tree very much resembles the Bay in leaves. The trunk is thick; the bark of a brownish appearance; and the ramification strong, close, and extended. It is fond of a rich red loam, tending to a blackish clay, mixed with a crumbling stone of the colour of marl. It grows principally on the N. W. side of Sumatra, from the line 3° N. nearly. The wood is useful for domestic purposes, being soft and easily worked. It is by many imagined, that camphor is produced by a chemical process. This is a mistaken idea, farther than regards the inferior kind arising from the distillation of the oil. I shall give a brief account of the mode of obtaining and preparing it, as practised by the natives of Sumatra, from the time of the establishment of the English on the island. The Sumatrans, previous to their setting out in quest of camphor, assemble on the confines of the country they intend exploring, and discharge a variety of religious duties and ceremonies, calculated, in their opinion, to promote the future success of their undertaking. They enter the woods, and, from experience, soon distinguish such trees as contain camphor. They pierce them; and if they yield oil plentifully, it is presumed they contain concreted camphor, which is found in small whitish flakes, situated perpendicularly, in irregular veins, in and near the centres of the trees. The tree is cut down, divided into junks, and carefully divested of its camphor. When the oil has been drawn off from young trees, the camphor which they afterwards afford, is of a less valuable nature, and is termed belly or foot camphor, in proportion to the degree of affinity it bears to head, or the best sort. When brought for salę, it is repeatedly soaked and washed in soapy water, to separate from it all heterogeneous and sandy particles that may have adhered to it. When clean, it will sink in water, and be of a white, glossy, smooth appearance, tending to transparency. After it has been washed, it is passed through three sieves of differing textures, so as to be divided into head, belly, and foot camphor: certain proportions of each compose the chests made up for the China market, where they are sold for 3501. sterling, nearly. The capoor* (a word of Arabic origin) matee, or dead camphor, is carefully separated from the three divisions, by an acuteness of distinction, acquired by the eye and hand from habit and attention, and, being mixed with the imperfect Cáfúr in Arabic, and Carpúra in Sanscrit. kind mentioned above, is pounded in a mortar, and distributed among proportional.quantities of foot camphor. This capoor-matee is sometimes procured by boiling down the thickest part of the oil, or by taking the sediment of the best oil, after it has settled, at least twenty-four hours. Camphor-oil is found to be a sovereign remedy for strains, bruises, and other external pains, from its penetrating quality in entering the pores, and gently agitating the affected parts, so as to quicken the stagnated circulation. The internal, anodyne and diaphoretic, and the external, antispasmodic and sedative virtues of camphor are well known. The oil is found to possess these in a certain degree, and to be useful in removing the painful spasms of the nerves and tendons, by dissipating the surrounding acrid humours. When the oil is used, it must be formed into a liniment, as it would alone occasion pain from its strength. The oil The oil applied to sores on horses has been found very beneficial. In this case it ought to be mixed with the juice of the tobacco. Sumatra affords annually from fifteen to twenty peculs (of 1333 pounds each) of camphor, and more oil than there is at present a demand for. The Chinese purchase it; and it is not clearly ascertained whether they use it all in China, or make a factitious species of it, by admixture of Japanese camphor, for the Europe market: the latter is generally supposed. It is highly probable, that the price of camphor will, in process of time, rise to an enormous degree, as one tree in three hundred is not found to contain camphor, and, when found, is immediately cut down; in consequence of which, the plant must soon become scarce, and the produce proportionably dear. It is to be hoped that the oil will, in this event, be found by the faculty to possess all the useful qualities of this valuable medicine. I have the satisfaction of accompanying this paper with a speci 2 |