NATURAL HISTORY. 



51 1 



are seen distinctly to rest on it 

 above. Tlie basalt is not in the 

 least changed by the contact of 

 the coal, nor the coal by that of 

 the basalt. The coal is very beau- 

 tiful and distinct, and in one place 

 is seen a coalified tree, if 1 may 

 use the word, 10 or l^ inches in 

 diameter, running directly in be- 

 low the basalt. 



Within sight of this spot, and 

 about 300 yards to the east of it, 

 are the beautifully conspicuous ba- 

 saltic pillars, 45 feet long, and 

 vertical, with the longest ones in 

 the middle, and the others gra- 

 dually shortening towards each 

 side like the columns of an organ. 

 From this appeaiance they have 

 received the appropriate name of 

 the organ. At the bottom of this 

 cliff, by examining and breaking 

 the loose columnar pieces of the 

 rock that have fallen down, we 

 found many fine specimens of cal- 

 cedony, zeolite, and semi-opal. 

 These occur in cavities in the ba- 

 salt. Sometimes the cavity is not 

 completely filled with the calcedo- 

 ny or opal ; and when that is the 

 case, the empty space is observed 

 to be always the upper part of the 

 cavity, while the rock is in situ. 

 Moreover, the surface of the cal- 

 cedony or opal next to the empty 

 space is always found to be flat and 

 horizontal, which would show that 

 the substance must have been fil- 

 tered into its situation in a fluid 

 state, and afterwards consolidated. 



Of Cinnamon as an article of Com- 

 merce. By H. Marshall, Esq. 

 Staff Surgeon to the Forces in 

 Ceylon. 



(From the same.) 

 Jhe earliest notice we have of 



cinnamon is in Exod. xxx. 23. It 

 is again mentioned in the Song of 

 Solomon, iv. 14 ; and in Prov. 

 vii. 17. Casia a synonime of cin- 

 namon is mentioned in Ezek. 

 xxvii. 19, where it is enumerated 

 among a large variety of articles 

 of merchandise. As the ancients 

 were supplied with cinnamon from 

 Arabia, and the north and east 

 coast of Africa, they without good 

 foundation, supposed that this 

 spice was the produce of those 

 countries. There is much pro- 

 bability that from the earliest ages 

 Europe has been indebted to Cey- 

 lon for part of its consumption of 

 this article. It may have been 

 exported from Ceylon by small 

 vessels belonging to the island, or 

 to the natives of the continent of 

 India, to some of the emporia on 

 the Malabar coast, and from 

 thence to Sabea, on the south 

 coast of Arabia, by the Arabs, who 

 were the first who traded exten- 

 sively on the Indian ocean. Here 

 the ships belonging to the mer- 

 chants of Phaenicia and Egypt 

 found large stores of the produce 

 of India; and by this medium the 

 demands from all parts of Europe 

 were supplied. Even in modern 

 times the commodities of India 

 were chiefly imported into Europe 

 by the way of Egypt. The enor- 

 mous expense incurred by trans- 

 porting cinnamon such a circuitous 

 route, and a great part of it by 

 land, must have greatly enhanced 

 its price, and prevented the use 

 of it from becoming general. 



On some occasions, however, 

 the quantity expended appears to 

 have been considerable. At the 

 funeral of Sylla 210 burthens of 

 spices were strewed upon the pile. 

 It is probable that cinnamon 

 formed a great part of the spices 



burned 



