484 LAUEACE^:. 



bably the mw of the Bible. It is often called Sweet-bay, and is quite 

 distinct from the common Bay, or Cherry-laurel (Cerasus Laurocerasus), 

 both as regards structure and properties. It does not yield any hydro- 

 cyanic acid. The leaves and fruit are used medicinally as aromatic 

 stimulants. The leaves contain a volatile oil, and the dark-coloured 

 fruit yields, by expression, an odoriferous concrete oil of a green 

 colour, called Oil of Bays. Campkora officinarum {Laurus Camphora), 

 a native of China, Japan, and Cochin-China, is the Camphor-tree. 

 Many plants supply a kind of Camphor, but the common camphor of 

 the shops is the produce chiefly of this tree. All parts of the tree 

 supply it, but it is obtained principally from the wood by distillation 

 and subsequent sublimation. It is used in medicine as a sedative anti- 

 spasmodic, in the form of mixture and tincture. The Borneo camphor 

 has been noticed under the natural order Dipterocarpaceae (^[ 789). 

 Sassafras officinale (Laurus Sassafras), is an American tree, the root, 

 wood, and flowers of which have been used in medicine. The root is 

 prescribed in Britain as a warm aromatic stimulant and diaphoretic. 

 It contains a volatile oiL Cinnamomum zeylanicum (Laurus Cinnamo- 

 mum), is the true Cinnamon-tree, which is extensively cultivated in 

 Ceylon. The tree attains the height of 30 feet. The bark of the 

 tree constitutes the cinnamon of commerce, the fojp of the Bible. 

 The young twigs furnish the best cinnamon. The bark yields by dis- 

 tillation an oil, which is at first of a yellow colour, but soon assumes 

 a reddish hue, The ripe fruit yields a concrete oil called cinnamon- 

 suet. The root yields camphor. Cinnamon is administered as a tonic, 

 stomachic, and carminative. The average importation of cinnamon 

 into London is estimated at 500,000 pounds. The leaves of the 

 cinnamon-tree are more or less acuminated; they have three principal 

 ribs, which come into contact at its base, but do not unite; its young 

 twigs are not downy, and its leaves have the taste of cloves. Cinna- 

 momum Cassia or aromaticum (Laurus Cassia), seems to be the chief 

 source of the Cassia lignea, or Cassia-bark of commerce, the mp of 

 the Bible. It differs from the true cinnamon in many particulars. 

 Its leaves are oblong-lanceolate; they have three ribs, which coalesce 

 into one at the base; its young twigs are downy, and its leaves have 

 the taste of cinnamon. There is a fine specimen of the plant about 

 twenty feet high in the Edinburgh Botanical Garden, which bears flowers 

 regularly every year, and occasionally has produced fruit. Cassia- 

 bark is imported from Canton through Singapore. It yields a yellow 

 volatile oil called Oil of Cassia. Both the bark and oil are administered 

 as aromatic stimulants. It is probable that Cassia buds, which con- 

 sist of the flower-bud (perianth and ovary), are the produce of the 

 Cassia-bark tree. They are used chiefly in confectionery, and they 

 have the flavour and pungency of Cassia. Malabar Cassia appears to 

 be the produce of another species of Cinnamomum, perhaps C. eucalyp- 



