Commerce—Mace, mostly the produce as it would appear of the Banda Islands, was shipped from Java in 1871 to the extent of 2101 peculs (282,133 lb.); and from Padang in Sumatra (excluding shipments to Java) to the amount of 457 peculs (60,933 lb.).[1878] The spice is exported principally to Holland, Singapore, and the United States; Great Britain receives about 60,000 to 80,000 lb. annually.
Uses—Mace is but rarely employed in medicine. It is chiefly consumed as a condiment.
LAURACEÆ.
CAMPHORA.
Camphor,[1879] Common Camphor, Laurel Camphor; F. Camphre; G. Campher.
Botanical Origin—Cinnamomum Camphora Fr. Nees et Ebermaier (Laurus Camphora L., Camphora officinarum C. Bauh.), the Camphor tree or Camphor Laurel is widely diffused, being found throughout Central China and in the Japanese Islands. In China it abounds principally in the eastern and central provinces, as in Chekiang, Fokien and Kiangsi; but it is wanting, according to Garnier (1868), in Yünnan and Szechuen. It is plentiful, on the other hand, in the island of Formosa, where it covers the whole line of mountains from north to south, up to an elevation of 2000 feet above the level of the sea. It flourishes in tropical and subtropical countries, and forms a large and handsome tree in sheltered spots in Italy as far north as the Lago Maggiore. The leaves are small, shining, and glaucous beneath, and have long petioles; the stem affords excellent timber, much prized on account of its odour for making clothes’ chests and drawers of cabinets.
Dryobalanops aromatica, the camphor tree of Borneo and Sumatra, yields a peculiar camphor, which we shall describe further on.
History—The two kinds of Camphor afforded by the two trees just named have always been regarded by the Chinese as perfectly distinct substances, and in considering the history of camphor this fact must be borne in mind.
On perusing the accounts of Laurel Camphor given by Chinese writers,[1880] the remarkable fact becomes apparent, that although the tree was evidently well known in the 6th century, and probably even earlier, and is specially noticed on account of its valuable timber, no mention is made in connexion with it of any such substance as camphor.
Le-she-chin, the author of the celebrated herbal Pun-tsao-kang-muh, written in the middle of the 16th century, was well acquainted with the two sorts of camphor,—the one produced by the camphor laurel of his own country, the other imported from the Malay islands; and he narrates how the former was prepared by boiling the wood, and refined by repeated dry sublimations.