Jump to content

Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/839

From Wikisource
This page needs to be proofread.
CAM—CAM
761

giving off that peculiarly pungent aromatic odour which is characteristic of the substance. It is very slightly soluble in water, to which it communicates its warm cam- phoraceous taste ; but it dissolves with facility in alcohol, ether, fixed and volatile oils, naphtha, &c. In its chemi cal constitution it is analogous to the solid stearoptines deposited by many essential oils, especially such as are derived from labiate plants. By submitting it to the action of oxidizing agents camphor, C 10 H 1G O, is trans formed into camphoric acid, C 10 H 16 O 4 , and if the oxida

tion is continued it becomes camphretic acid, C 10 H U O 7 .

The greater part of the camphor of Western commerce is obtained by distillation from the wood of a tree, Camphora officinarum, belonging to the Natural Order Lauracece. It is produced most largely in the Island of Formosa, the area of production being a narrow belt of dcbateable land separating the Chinese settlement from the territory held of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island. The preparation of the product is consequently attended with considerable danger, owing to the mutual jealousies and encroachments of the natives and the Chinese. The crude and primitive process of distillation is thus described by Mr E. C. Taintor in Ills , Trade Report of Tamsui, 1869 : "A long wooden trough, frequently hol lowed out from the trunk of a tree, is fixed over a furnace and protected by a coating of clay. Water is poured into it, and a board perforated with numerous small holes is luted over it. Over these holes the chips [of the camphor- wood] arc placed and covered with earthenware pots. Heat being applied in the furnace, the steam passes through the chips, carrying with it the camphor, which condenses in the form of minute white crystals in the upper part of the pots." It is collected and stored in vats to await exportation, during which time it gives out from 3 to 4 per cent, of uncrystallizable camphor oil of a yellowish colour, which has been suggested for use in medicine and the arts in the same way as spirits of turpentine. In addition to the supplies obtained from Formosa, a considerable quantity of camphor is now shipped from Japan. Japanese unrefined camphor is of a lighter colour than that obtained from Formosa, and commands a higher price in the market. Crude camphor is submitted to a process of refining by sublimation from a small quantity of sand, charcoal, iron- filings, or lime. The operation is conducted in glass vessels of peculiar form, to the upper part of which the sublimate adheres. It requires to be conducted with great care on account of the peculiarly inflammable nature of the product, and the heat must be carefully regulated to produce a solid compact cake.

Borneo camphor, or Earns camphor, is a variety differing entirely in its source, being the produce of Dryobalanops Camphora, and also somewhat removed in its chemical con stitution and physical properties from the ordinary variety. It is obtained in its concrete form in fissures in old trees, which are cut down and split up in search of it. The tree is a native of the Malay peninsula, and is found chiefly in certain parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Borneo camphor is extravagantly prized by the Chinese, who readily pay one hundred times more for this variety than for ordinary camphor.

A third variety of camphor, scarcely known beyond China, but there called Ngai camphor, has been ascertained by the late Mr D. Hanbury to be the product, in part at least, of Jtlumea balsamifera. In chemical composition it is the same as Borneo camphor, but differs from it in respect of odour, greater hardness, and higher volatility. In China it occupies in respect of value an intermediate place be tween ordinary and Borneo camphor.

Camphor is extensively employed in medicine both internally and externally as a stimulant, but its chief medicinal use is in the preparation of liniments, into the composition of many of which it enters. It has a vulgar reputation as a prophylactic, on which account it is in great demand during serious epidemics. It possesses properties invaluable to naturalists and others for keeping furs, skins, and other animal substances free from moths ; and it simi larly preserves cabinets of insects from attack. A very large quantity of camphor is consumed in India, and gene rally throughout the East.

CAMPHUYSEN, Dirk Rafaelsz (1586-1627), a Dutch painter, poet, and theologian, the son of a surgeon at Gorcum, was born in 1586. As he manifested, great artistic talent, his brother, in whose charge he was left on the death of his parents, placed him under the painter Govitz. But at that time there was intense interest in theology; and Camphuysen, sharing in the prevailing enthusiasm, deserted the pursuit of art, to become first tutor of the sons of the lord of Nieuport, and then minister of Vleuten. As, however, he had embraced the doctrines of Arminius with fervour, he was driven from this post, and suffered much persecution. His chief solace was poetry ; and he has left a translation of the Psalms, and a number of short pieces, remarkable for their fresh ness and depth of poetic feeling. He is also the author of several theological works of fair merit, among which is a Compendium Doctrines Socimorum ; but his fame chiefly rests on his artistic power. His pictures, like his poems, are mostly small, but of great beauty ; the colouring, though thin, is pure ; the composition and pencilling are exquisite, and the perspective above criticism. The best of his works are his sunset and moonlight scenes and his views of the Rhine and other rivers. The close of his life was spent at Dokkum, where he died in 1627.

CAMPI, Bernardino, a pupil of Giulio Campi, who adopted a less ambitious style, but is equal and in some respects superior to his master. Bernardino was born at Cremona in 1525, and began life as a goldsmith. After an education under Giulio Campi and!ppolitoCorta,he attained such skill that when he added another to the eleven Caesars of Titian, it was impossible to say which was the master s and which the imitator s. He was also much influenced by Correggio and Raffaelle.

CAMPI, Giulio, the founder of a school of Italian painters, was born at Cremona about 1502, and died in 1572. He was son of a painter, Galeazzo Campi, under whom he took his first lessons in art. He was then taught by Giulio Romano ; and he made a special study of Titian, Correggio, and Raftaelle. His works are remarkable for their correctness, vigour, and loftiness of style. They are very numerous, and the church of St Margaret in his native town owes all its paintings to his hand. Among the earliest of his school are his brothers, Vincenzo and Antonio, the latter of whom was also of some mark as a sculptor and as historian of Cremona.

CAMPIAN, Edmund (1540-1581), a celebrated English

Jesuit, was born of humble parentage at London in 1540. From Christ s Hospital he removed to Oxford University, where he took a degree and became fellow of St John s. He was admitted to holy orders in the English Church, and in 1567 was ordained deacon. Being convinced that he could not assent to the Protestant formulary required by the Church of England, he left Oxford and went to Ireland, where he occupied himself in writing a history of the country. He then joined Allen and others at Douay, and passed his novitiate as member of the Society of Jesus. After residing for a short time at Briinn, Vienna, and Prague, where he taught philosophy and rhetoric, he was sent by Gregory XIII., along with Father Parsons, on a propagandist mission to England. He arrived in England

in 1580, and entered on his duties by challenging the