pfaat "Isore, Iseger^/, aa3. Tsijric/", 28 



j> 



inhabitants of the distritfl being seized with violent fever, and 

 finding no water wherewith to quench his thirst, was forced to 

 drink of this, by which means he became perfectly cured ; and 

 afterwards, relating his cure to others, they made use of the same 

 remedy. 



CINNAMON. — Bacon, in his 'Natural History,' sj)eaks thus 

 of the CiiiiKunun {Laurus Ciiinamomuvi): — "The ancient Cinnamon 

 was of all other plants, while it grew, the dryest ; and those things 

 which are knowne to comfort other plants did make that more 

 sterill : for, in showers, it prospered worst : it grew also amongst 

 bushes of other kindes, where commonly plants doe not thrive; 

 neither did it love the Sunne." Solomon, in his Canticles, mentions 

 Cinnamon among the precious spices; and Moses was commanded 

 to use "sweet Cinnamon" in the preparation of the holy oil used 

 to anoint the Tabernacle and the sacred vessels, and to consecrate 

 Aaron and his sons to the priesthood. The Emperor Vespasian 

 was the first to take chaplets of Cinnamon to Rome, wherewith to 

 decorate the temples of the Capitol and of Peace. It is related, 

 that Alexander the Great, whilst at sea, perceived he was near the 

 coast of Arabia, from the scent of Cinnamon wafted from the still 



distant shore. The Mahometans of India used to have a curious 



belief that the Cinnamon-tree is the bark, the Clove the flower, and 

 the Nutmeg the fruit, of one and the same tree; and most of the 

 writers of the Middle Ages thought that Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, 



and Nutmegs were the produce of one tree. Gerarde tells 



us, that there was formerly much controversy concerning the true 

 Cinnamon and Cassia of the ancients, but he considered the tree 

 whose bark is Cassia to be a bastard kind of Cinnamon. The 

 Cinnamon, he says, has pleasant leaves and fair white flowers, 

 which turn into round black berries, the size of an Olive, "out of 

 which is pressed an oile that hath no smell at all untill it be 

 rubbed and chafed between the hands: the trunk or body, with 

 the greater arms or boughs of the tree, are covered with a double 

 or twofold barke, like that of the Corke-tree, the innermost whereof 

 is the true and pleasant Cinnamon, which is taken from this tree and 

 cast upon the ground in the heate of the sun, through whose heate 

 it turneth and foldeth itselfe round together." The tree thus 

 peeled, recovered itself in three years, and was then ready to be 



disbarked again. Tradition states that the ancient Arabian priests 



alone possessed the right of collecfling the Cinnamon. The most 

 patriarchal of them would then divide the precious bark, reserving 

 the first bundle for the Sun. After the division had taken place, 

 the priests left to the Sun itself the task of lighting the sacred 



fire on the altar where the high priest was to offer a sacrifice. 



Theophrastus narrates that the Cinnamon flourished in the valleys 

 fretjuented by venomous serpents ; and that those who repaired 

 thither to coUecft it were compelled to wear bandages on their 

 hands and feet. After the Cinnamon was colle(5led, it was divided 



