CINNAMON. 303 



CINNAMON. 



THIS was also one of the ingredients of the holy anointing oil 

 (Exod. xxx.) ; but whether it was the bark of the same tree as that 

 now commonly used, is by no means certain ; it is only found in 

 the East Indies and in China, with which, it is unnecessary to say, 

 there was no communication in the time of Moses. Pliny speaks 

 of a species of cinnamon which grew in Syria: it was probably of 

 an inferior description to that of Ceylon. 



The cinnamon tree is mentioned, among other aromatics, in Cant, 

 iv. 14, and as it is by no means unlikely that Solomon had import- 

 ed some of those from India, the following account of it will not 

 be out of place here. 



This valuable laurel rises above twenty feet in height ; the trunk 

 extends about six feet in length, and one foot and a half in diame- 

 ter: it sends off numerous branches, which are covered with smooth 

 bark, of a brownish ash color ; the leaves stand in opposite pairs, 

 upon short foot-stalks ; they are of an ovalish oblong shape, obtuse- 

 ly pointed, entire, firm, from three to five inches long, of a bright 

 green color, and marked with three whitish longitudinal nerves. 

 The common peduncles grow from the younger branches, and af- 

 ter dividing, produce the flower in a kind of paniculated umbel. 

 The petals are six, oval, pointed, concave, spreading, of a greenish 

 white or yellowish color, and the three outermost are broader than 

 the other ; the filaments are nine, shorter than the corolla, flattish, 

 erect, standing in ternaries, and at the base of each of the three in- 

 nermost, two small round glands are placed ; the antheree are dou~ 

 ble, and unite upon the top of the filament ; the germen is oblong, 

 the style simple, of the length of the stamina, and the stigma is de- 

 pressed and triangular : the fruit is a pulpy pericarpiurn, resembling 

 a small olive of a deep blue color, inserted in the corrollae, and con- 

 taining an oblong nut. 



The use of the cinnamon tree is not confined to the bark ; for it is 

 remarkable that the leaves, the fruit, and the root, all yield oil of 

 very different qualities, and of considerable value : that produced 

 from the leaves is called oil of cloves, and oleum Malabathri : that 

 obtained from the fruit is extremely fragrant, of a thick consistence, 

 and at Ceylon is made into candles, for the sole use of the king. 

 The bark of the root not only affords an aromatic essential oil, or 

 what has been called oil of camphor, of great estimation for its 

 medical use, but also a species of camphor, which is much purer 

 and whiter than that kept in the shops. 



The spice so well known to us by the name of cinnamon, is 

 the inner bark of the tree ; and those plants produce it in the most 

 perfect state, which are about six or seven years old, but this must 

 varyaccording to circumstances. 



The bark, while on the trees, is first freed of its external green- 



