

CINERAS. 



yellow rt.m-U. It U found mostly on chalk down*. A vm 



r. maritima, occur* near th sea in very wet seasons ; it is then twice 



or three time* u Urge as usual, and the lower K-aves are dentate. 



(Babington, Mmwit of BrilM Botany ; Lindlcy . .\alural Sftiem.) 



IN KK AS, a genus of Barnacles. [CiRRii'tuiA.] 



i 'IN NAI'.AR. [MKRCCRT.] 



\ \ V. . | I . \ | >|;ON, a genus of Plant* referred to Von Marlins's 

 doubtful order Canclltimr. This genus hai been separated from Canrlla 

 which well represented by (7. 0/60, a common We*t Indian 

 aromatic shrub with evergreen ooriaoeoiu obovate alternate stalked 

 leave*, no stipule*, and corymbs of purple flowers. C. alba U often 

 called Wild Cinnamon in the West Indies, on account of ite 

 warm aromatic fragrant properties. (CAMILLA, in ARTS AKD 

 .v.) There is but one other species of Cantlla. CVnnamo- 

 datdron hai but one species, C. tunllart. It is a Brazilian tree with 

 aromatic properties. lu bark U used as a tonic and stimulant. It 

 U administered in low fevers and relaxed sore throat 



< I.NXAMO'MUM, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural 

 order Lauraeea. It is confined to the East Indies, and distinguished 

 from the rest of its natural order by the following technical cha- 

 racter : Flowers hermaphrodite ; abortive stamens perfect ; anthers 

 with four cells; limb of the perianth articulated, deciduous; l.u.ls 

 of the leaves incomplete ; leaves evergreen, often approximated in 

 pain, S-ribbed or triple-ribbed. It contains several species, some of 

 which yield Cinnamon, and others Cassia, two aromatic barks which 

 appear to differ from each other in little, except in the degree in 

 which the aromatic principle exists in them. Till lately it was 

 understood that a Ceylon plant called Launa Ctnnamomwn yielded 

 true Cinnamon, and another, called Launu Cauia, produced the 

 inferior Cassia bark on the coast of Malabar ; but, according to Nees 

 .von Eaenbeck, at least two distinct species yield the Cinnamon of 

 the shops, and it is altogether uncertain which out of several yields 

 > L 



Cinnamon has been known to European nations from very high 

 antiquity. The Greeks procured it, together with the name, as 

 Herodotus (iii. Ill) remarks, from the Phoenicians, who are by some 

 supposed to have formed the name Kinnaraomon from Kagu-mania, 

 or Kanchu-mania, two Malayan words signifying sweet wood (' Annuls 

 of Philosophy,' 1817); and Cassia itself may have originated in the 

 same word Kaschn, ' wood.' That which is now chiefly consumed in 

 England U the aromatic bark of a small tree found in the Island of 

 Ceylon. 



('. /rylanieum, the Ceylon Cinnamon-Tree. Its leaves are of an 

 oblong figure, generally more or less heart-shaped at the base ; of a 

 thick leathery texture, very smooth and shining on the upper side, 



point ; they are nearly opposite on the branches, and are traversed 

 by from three to five ribs, of which the lateral ones run in a curved 

 direction from the base to the point The flowers are (reeniah- 

 white, and appear in threes, collected in clusters, in small terminal 

 panicles ; they are composed of a downy calyx divided into six parts, 

 and containing nine perfect stamens and nine others which are 

 imperfect and resemble yellow triangular-stalked glands. Tln-ir 

 pistil is a roundish 1-celled body terminating gradually in a style 

 with a white downy capitate triangular stigma. The fmit is an oval 

 berry, not unlike an acorn, seated in the calyx, which is enlarged 

 and converted into an angular 6-toothed cup. The tree U supposed 

 to produce a considerable number of varieties to which native names 

 are given, but it is uncertain whether these are not, in part at 

 least, distinct species. In addition to the aromatic oil contained in 

 its bark, the root of the Cinnamon-Tree yields camphor ; the lit 

 of cinnamon ; the leaves, oil of cloves ; and the fruit a peculiar t r< MM- 

 taceous ethereal oil. When the branches are peeled the finest stick - < >f 

 i Cinnamon are said to be obtained from the liber of the middle- 

 | size branches, an inferior sort from the youngest shoots, and that . 

 which is produced by the thickest branches is considered of very 

 little value. 



It is said to require a rich sandy soil mixed with vegetable earth. 

 Some degree of shade is necessary to the young plants, which there- 

 fore ore not cultivated in open plains, but in spaces in the woods 

 where a few large forest-trees are left scattered about to shade them. 

 In about six or seven yean from the time they are sown, young 

 cinnamon bushes are from four to six feet high ; they are not 

 ever generally harked before the ninth year. The cinnamon peeling 

 begins in May, at the end of the rains, and lasts till November ; tin' 

 operation of peeling consists in nothing more than slitting the hark 

 longitudinally and then cutting it across, so that it can be readily 

 turned back from the wood, anil it is the more easy in consequence 

 of th .! shoota which are cut for peeling not being more than three 

 yean old. 



C. aromatieum (Eaenbeck), is the species which is believed to be 

 the Cinnamon of China and Cochin China. This plant which is not 

 uncommon in the hot-houses of Europe, has long been reputed the 

 kind that yields cassia, but that opinion appears to be altogether 

 unfounded. It is said to grow in the dry sandy districts, lying n< >rt h- 

 west of the town of Faifoe, between 15 and 16 N. lat The leaves 

 are very much larger than in the true Cinnamon, they usually hang 

 down from the stalks, have never more than three ribs, and never are 

 in any degree cordate at the base ; sometimes they are taper-pointed, 

 sometimes blunt A, in the following figure, is a leaf of thin species ; 

 B and C are different forms of the leaf of the Cinnamomum Zr>/lanicum, 

 The aromatic fruits called Cassia-Buds are also yielded by this species. 

 [CASSIA-BUDS.] 



Ceylon Cinnamon-Tree (Ciiuiamnmiim 

 1, perfect itamen, with on* of the abortive lUams at lu bttt ; 2, * plitil ; 

 3, ripe fruit. 



glaucous sad beautifully marked with prominent netted veins on the 

 under side ; they an always blunt, and seldom even tapered to the 



With regard to Cauia lignta, or Cassia-Bark, it seems altogether 

 uncertain what it is that yields it ; whether it U some peculiar species, 

 as it has long been supposed to be, or inferior samples of Cinnamon 

 gathered in unfavourable seasons, or from trees growing in bad situa- 



