Chap. 42.] CINNAMOMTJM. 139 



suckers. It has then all the appearance of being dry and 

 withered, and while it is green it has no odour at all. The leaf is 

 like that of wild marjoram, and it thrives best in dry localities, 

 being not so prolific in rainy weather ; it requires, also, to be 

 kept constantly clipped. Though it grows on level ground, it 

 thrives best among tangled brakes and brambles, and hence 

 it is extremely difficult to be gathered. It is never gathered 

 unless with the permission of the god, by whom some suppose 

 Jupiter to be meant; the ^Ethiopians, however, call him 

 Assabinus. 42 They offer the entrails of forty-four oxen, goats, 

 and rams, when they implore his permission to do so, but after 

 all, they are not allowed to work at it before sunrise or after 

 sunset. A priest divides the branches with a spear, and sets 

 aside one portion of them for the god ; after which, the dealer 

 stores away the rest in lumps. There is another account given, 

 which states that a division is made between the gatherers and 

 the sun, and that it is divided into three portions, after which 

 lots are twice drawn, and the share which falls to the sun is 

 left there, and forthwith ignites spontaneously. 



The thinnest parts in the sticks, for about a palm in length, 

 are looked upon as producing the finest cinnamon ; the part 

 that comes next, though not quite so long, is the next best, 

 and so on downwards. The worst of all is that which is 

 nearest the roots, from the circumstance that in that part 

 there is the least bark, the portion that is the most esteemed : 

 hence it is that the upper part of the tree is preferred, there 

 being the greatest proportion of bark there. As for the wood, 

 it is held in no esteem at all, on account of the acrid taste 

 which it has, like that of wild marjoram ; it is known as 

 xylocinnamum. 43 The price of cinnamomum is ten denarii per 

 pound. Some writers make mention of two kinds of cinna- 

 mon, the white and the black : the white was the one that was 

 formerly preferred, but now, on the contrary, the black is held 

 in the highest estimation, and the mottled, even, is preferred to 

 the white. The most certain test, however, of the goodness ot 

 cinnamon is its not being rough, and the fact that the pieces 

 when rubbed together do not readily crumble to powder. That 

 which is soft is more particularly rejected, which is the case, 

 also, when the outer bark too readily falls off. 



i2 See c. 33 of the present Book, and the Note. 

 43 Or " wood of cinnamon." 



