|
64
|
DE NATURA FOSSILIUΜ
|
||
|
|
|||
|
All
Moorish writers do not say that this mineral is the gum of a tree.
Neither the Moors nor the Greek authorities have investigated whether
or not it was a juice but each has written that it is the tears of the
poplar tree without investigating its true nature. Thus Serapio writes
that according to certain people there are trees in the mountains of
India that yield camphor in abundance. Isaacus, who writes at the same
time as Serapio, states definitely that it is the gum of a tree and
Pselus, a Greek writer, is not sure whether it is a gum or tears. The
Moors write that native camphor is sometimes brought to them mixed with
fragments of wood. There are two possible explanations of this. The
wood may have adhered to the bitumen, by chance, as it was flowing or
exuding from the earth since it is unctuous, or the Indians may have
added it to the camphor in order to cheat the Moors or deceive the
credulous. This argument that is used to prove that camphor comes from
a tree is not sufficiently valid. And it is not the same as if someone
said that amber was the juice of a tree because Archelaus writes that
it is brought from India in the crude state with bark adhering to it.
However, since I have never seen the place where camphor is produced I
will not fight with these opinions of the Moors. Also, I wish to keep
peace with the learned men who hold that the writings of the Moors are
beyond question. Wisely, Ludovicus Ver-tomannus who sailed to the
island of Borneo, having heard this theory of the origin of camphor
withheld his assent to an unknown thing since he did not see it with
his own eyes. No less correctly M. Paulus Venetus, who sailed to Lower
Java to a place called Fansur where the finest camphor is said to be
produced, has said nothing about its origin and has ignored the
subject completely.
The
color of the native mineral is not uniform since it may be white and
clear with reddish spots, white and dull, or dark colored. The
artificial mineral is always white. The taste is mixed, being both
acrid and bitter. The odor is agreeable and varies only slightly.
Camphor is, by nature, friendly to fire and when ignited burns at all
points until entirely consumed. Even when it is smeared over an icicle
and set on fire it will not be extinguished as long as a particle of
camphor remains. For this reason it is commonly added to compounds
which burn in water. It has a bright and sweet smelling flame. Since it
consists of the most tenuous material it gradually melts into the air
and disappears.4 This fact is well known to physicians who
place the mineral in vessels and cover it with flax or millet seeds in
order to preserve it for many years. The camphor which has been
sublimated to the upper portion of an earthenware vessel when placed on
a fire is readily dissolved in wine and then burned as incense instead
of frankincense and myrrh. The refined mineral is used in medicine to
warm and to dry. This is taught by experience and proven by taste. A
certain Moor has written, quite correctly, that it is warm and dry in
the second
1 Camphor readily sublimates in air at room temperature. This is an early description of this property of certain solids.
|
|||
|
|
|||