LAUREL-CHERRY. 



LAVA. 



LAUREL-CHERRY. . 

 LAURUS, a graus of Plant* belonging to the natural order 

 to which indeed it has given ita name. It includes as a 

 s of the meet celebrated trees of antiquity, and until recent 

 of the meet elegant and useful of the vegetable kingdom, 

 j them were the tree* yielding the camphor of Japan, Cinna- 

 mon, both of China and of Ceylon, Cassia bark and buds, the 

 Malabathrum leaf of the ancient*, with the less known Culilawan 

 and Sinloc bark*, as well a* the American Persea, Pichurim, and 

 fleas* frss Most of thsee are however now placed in distinct genen 

 by UM latest authors who have paid attention to the subject, as Nee* 

 von Reenbsck mm ^ Blume. 



L. essil>sryem of Kssmpfer, now the Campkora officinarum of Nee*, 

 is a native of Japan and of the province of Fokien in China, and also of 

 the island at Formosa, whence, according to Mr. Reeves, the chief por- 

 tion of UM camphor of commerce is brought to Canton. As the wood is 

 said to be valuable, the root, refuse wood, and smaller branches are 

 out into chips, covered with a little water, and the camphor separated 

 by sublimation. (CAMPHOBA.) It U necessary to distinguish tbis 

 camphor from that produced in Borneo and Sumatra by Diptero- 

 (mrmut, or DryAaltmapt Campkora. [DRTO&ALAKOPS.] 



The kind* of cinnamon are not so clearly settled, as there is both a 

 Ceylon and a Chinese cinnamon. The former however is no doubt 

 produced by Cnmamomw* Zeylanicvm, and the hitter by the C. aro- 

 MXiawt of Nee*. This cinnamon is of superior quality, at least 

 some of it, and is preferred by the Chinese to that of Ceylon, and 

 said to be produced in Cochin China chiefly in the dry sandy districts 

 lying north-west of the town of Faifoe, between 15 and 16 N. lat 

 Mr. Crawfurd (' Embassy to Siam,' p. 478) informs us that there are 

 10 varieties of it, and that it is not cured, like that of Ceylon, by 

 freeing it from the epidermis. Dr. A. T. Thomson gives this as one 

 of the characters by which cassia may be distinguished from cinnamon. 

 It is possible therefore that some of it may be imported into Europe 

 and sold as cassia, though Mr. Marshall states that the cassia-bark of 

 the shops U only a coarse cinnamon obtained from the thick roots or 

 large branches of the cinnamon tree. 



Cassia-Bad*, or Floret Lauri dunce, are the dried receptacles of 

 some specie* of this family, by some supposed to be the above 

 C. OTMfemt; ' 

 C. Lottrtirii by 

 and of Japan. [CASSIA-BUDS.) 



It ha* sometime* been doubted whether the substances we now call 



iinm; but it has been pointed out by Loureiro, and is named 

 irii b Nees. It U a native of Cochin China towards Lao<, 



t have possessed some remarkable physical and sensible properties 

 not common in products beyond the tropics. The aromatic principle 

 is that which is most conspicuous in the products of the tropical zone, 

 and is found probably in most of the substances which the ancients 

 obtained from the eastat least Dioeoorides has described them all 

 together. It would be difficult even with our present knowledge to 

 find any other substance* which would equally well answer the ancient 

 descriptions, without going still farther cast. The Greek name of 

 cinnamon is Ki>ia>ii', which Herodotus says bis countrymen learnt 

 from the Phoenician! ; and the Hebrew name, we know, is Kinncmon. 

 It is remarkable that the Malay name is Kayu-Manu, which 

 Mr. Marshall says U sometime* pronounced as if written Kama-Munis. 

 By the Hindoos cinnamon is called Dar-Cbeenee, indicating that they 

 obtained it from the Chinese ; sad Professor Wilson has lately proved 

 that there was commerce by sea with China at a very early period, 

 and, what is still more remarkable that the navigators were Hindoos. 

 The Culilawan Bark, often written Culibaban, or Culitlawan, said 

 to be derived from ' kulit,' bark, and 'lawan,' clove, in some measure 

 rsMMtilse Cweia. It is one of those which has been known in Europe 

 since the 17th century, but it has been little used in modern times, 



ofb name describes it as t o ...... il of remarkable properties in 







Analysed by M. Schloss, it was found to yield a 

 a volatile oil, and a bitter extractive substance. A volatile oil 

 from it in Amboyna U used a* a stimulant, according to 

 l*billerdtere. It was f-rovrly employed in Europ* a* an aromatic 

 eticnlant, and must be netful in CUM where such remedies are 

 indicated The tree yielding il is a native of Amboyna, and i* called 

 dMMsnomum Culilawan by Blume. 



L swtWu of Linnsins. the Laurel, or Sweet Bay, now slone remains 

 in UM genus Umnt. It is a native of the north of Africa and south 

 of Europe, and of Asia; at wast it ha* been so long naturaliied in 

 these countries that it would be difficult to ascertain whence it was 

 orifinallr introduced. It i* the A>n of the Greek*, and U known 

 to the Arabs by the name Gbar, with Zafne a* ita Greek synonym* 

 The berries are even found in Indian bataars by the name liubal 

 Obar. 



It attain* a height of SO or 80 feet, and is cultivated in gardens, not 

 only oa account of ita elegant appearance, bat also for the aromatic 

 fragrance of iU leave*, which are evergreen, lanceolate, wavy at the 

 margin, and quite smooth. The flowers are (mall, four or five 

 dwtered together in the axil* of the leaves, of a yellowish-white colour 

 and dotted. The fruit i* email, ovate, dark-purple coloured, and a 

 little succulent It if endowed with aromatic properties as well a* 



the loaves, whence both have long been used in medicine as stimulants 

 And carminatives, as well as a fatty oil expressed from the seed, which 



lowever, retaining a portion of the volatile oil, has a fragrant smelL 

 The term ' bachelor' has by some been supposed to be derived from the 



'ormer practice of crowning candidates for honours with bay-leave* 

 and berries, whence the terms Baccalaureus and Laureate 



1, a flowering branch of Laarui notnlit ; 2, one of the flower*, much magni- 

 fied ; 3, a ttamen, with a pair of glands on IU filament, and the anther opening 

 by two recurved valves ; 4, a iced ; 5, a section of the tame, exhibiting a minute 

 embryo. 



LAVA, in Geology, the most general designation of the mineral 

 substances which are erupted in a melted state from volcanic vents. 

 The situation of volcanoes now extinct may often be recognised by 

 their solidified products, even when the cheracteristic conical figure of 

 volcanic mounds has been destroyed by time ; and it is commonly 

 supposed that ' volcanic rocks ' may be distinguished from ' trap 

 rocks,' the effects of hnat in ancient geological periods, by some 

 peculiarities of aggregation, which appear due rather to the dis- 

 similar circumstances under which the lava was solidified than to 

 any essential difference in the chemical constitution or mineral com- 

 pooanti 



Dr. Daubeny presents the following general view of the appearance 

 and heat of lava : " When observed as near as possible to the point 

 from whence it iasues, it is for the most part a semifluid mass of the 

 consistence of honey, but sometimes so liquid as to penetrate the 

 fibre of wood. It soon cools externally, and therefore exhibits a 

 rough unequal surface, but, as it is a bad conductor of heat, the 

 internal mass remains liquid long after the portion exposed to the air 

 has become solidified. The temperature at which it continues fluid is 

 considerable enough to melt glass aud silver, and has been found to 

 reader a certain mass of load fluid in four minutes, which, placed on 

 red-hot irou, required double that time to enter iiito fusion." (' On 

 Volcanoes.') 



Lavas vary so much in chemical composition and mioeralogical 

 aspect, that it might seem impossible to reduce them to n general rule. 

 Yet as among the older products of heat we distinguish two principal 

 groups depending on the relative abundance of felspar and hornblende 

 (or augita), so among the products of modern volcanoes a similar con- 

 sideration clears away much of the perplexity which belongs to this 

 subject. 



According to Von Buch, almost all lavas are to be viewed as a modi- 

 fication of trachyte, consisting essentially of felspar and united with 

 titaniferous iron, to which they owe their colour and their power of 

 attracting iron ; they generally contain glassy felspar ; and often 

 inclose augite, leucite, hornblende, mica, divine, specular iron, and 

 many other mineral", developel by crystallisation from the fused 



