One Thousand Ways to Make Money by Page Fox

350. ARTIFICIAL CAMPHOR.--Here is another trade secret. The genuine

camphor is scarce. The artificial is made in England, shipped to Hamburg, and then re-shipped to England as the real article. Here is the way it is made: Pass a current of dry hydrochloric acid gas through spirits of turpentine cooled by a freezing mixture. The liquid deposits crystals, which are dissolved in alcohol and precipitated by water. The separated crystals are drained and dried. They are perfectly colorless, with an odor like camphor. At the ordinary temperature, its vapor tension is sufficient to cause it to sublime like ordinary camphor in small brilliant crystals in the bottles in which it is preserved. It is insoluble in water, and gyrates when on the surface of that liquid like true camphor.