L A U 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



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natives apply the root, bark, and leaves, in form of cata- 

 plasms, to tumors. The ninth sort is called mael coronde, 

 or Flowering Cinnamon, being always in blossom. The 

 flowers come nearest to those of the first sort, but they bear 

 no fruit. The wood never becomes so solid and weighty in 

 this as in the others, which are sometimes eight, nine, or ten 

 feet in circumference. ' If this tree be cut or bored into, a 

 limpid water will issue from the wound, as from the Birch- 

 tree, but it is of no use, any more than the leaves and bark. 

 This is the male-tree of the true Cinnamon. There is a tenth 

 sort called toupat coronde, or Three-leaved Cinnamon, 

 which does not grow near the Dutch settlements, but higher 

 iip towards Candia. With respect to the time when the bark 

 is fit to be taken off, some trees are ready two or three years 

 sooner than others, owing to the difference of soil which they 

 grow in : those, for instance, which grow in valleys where the 

 ground is a fine whitish sand, will be fit to have the bark 

 taken off in five years; but others which stand in a wet slimy 

 soil, must have seven or eight years to grow before they are 

 fit to bark. Those trees are also later which grow in the 

 shade of other large trees, whereby the sun is kept from their 

 roots. Hence also it is, that the bark of such trees has not 

 that sweetness observable in the bark of those which grow in 

 a white sandy ground, where, with little wet, they stand full 

 exposed to the sun ; but is rather of a bitterish taste, some- 

 what astringent, and smells like camphor : for by the heat of 

 the sun's rays the camphor is made so volatile, that it rises 

 up and mixes with the juices of the tree, where it undergoes 

 a small fermentation, and then rising still higher between the 

 wood and the thin inner membrane of the bark, it. is so 

 effectually diffused through the branches and leaves, that 

 there is not the least trace of it to be perceived. Meanwhile 

 that thin and glutinous membrane which lines the bark on the 

 inside, attracts all the purest and sweetest particles of the 

 sap, leaving the thick and gross ones to push forwards, in 

 order to nourish the branches, leaves, and fruit. If the 

 bark be fresh taken off, that sap which remains in the tree 

 has a bitterish taste, not unlike that of cloves. On the con- 

 trary, the inner membrane of the bark, when fresh taken off, 

 has a most exquisite sweetness, whilst the outer part differs 

 very little in taste from that of other trees. But when the 

 bark is laid in the sun to be dried and rolled up, this oily 

 and agreeable sweetness of the inner membrane is diffused 

 through the whole. The bark may be taken off from trees 

 that have stood fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen years, according 

 to the quality of the soil : but beyond that time they lose by 

 degrees their agreeable sweetness, and the bark acquires 

 more of the taste of camphor; it also then becomes so thick, 

 that, when laid in the sun, it will no longer roll up, but remain 

 flat. To account for the great quantities of Cinnamon 

 still remaining on the island of Ceylon, after the general 

 exportation of the bark that has prevailed during several 

 centuries, some authors have assured us that after the bark 

 has been stripped off the tree, it becomes fit to be stripped a 

 second time in four or five years. But this assertion is no less 

 contrary to observation, than it is to the common course of na- 

 ture. The truth is, the barked trees being cut down' quickly 

 put forth new shoots, which in a period of from five to eight 

 years come again to the knife. Great numbers also of trees are 

 continually springing from the fruit, which either drops upon 

 the ground, or is disseminated by the wild doves, called there 

 Cinnamon-eaters ; insomuch that here and there along the 

 roruls, such quantities of the youngtrees are to be seen, as to 

 look like little woods. The Cinnamon-tree is now cultivated 

 in the West Indies: in 1792 samples of their product were ex- 

 amined by competent judges, wiio declared it to be equal to 



that from Ceylon. Neither this, nor the next species, is so 

 tender as most persons imagine; indeed the tender treatment 

 of the plants brought to England has generally destroyed 

 them. Great heat is certainly prejudicial to them: when 

 the plants therefore have taken new roots in the pots or tubs, 

 they should in summer be placed in a glass-case, where they 

 may have plenty of air in warm weather ; and in winter they 

 should be placed in a stove moderately warm. 



2. Laurus Cassia; Cassia, or Wild Cinnamon. Leaves 

 triple-nerved, lanceolate. The narrower leaves tapering at 

 each end, distinguishes this from the preceding species. This 

 tree grows, says Mr. Marsden, from fifty to sixty feet high, 

 with large, spreading, horizontal branches, almost as low as 

 the earth. The young leaves are mostly of a reddish hue ; 

 the blossoms grow six in number, upon slender footstalks, 

 close to the bottom of the leaf; they are monopetalous, small, 

 white, and stellated in six points. The root is said to con- 

 tain much camphor. The bark is commonly taken from such 

 of the trees as are a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, for 

 when they are younger, it is said to be so thin as to lose all 

 its qualities very soon. Those trees which grow in a high 

 rocky soil, have red shoots, and the bark is superior to that 

 which is produced in a moist clay, where the shoots are 

 green. I have been assured, continues Mr. Marsden, by a 

 person of extensive knowledge, that the Cassia produced in 

 Sumatra is from the same tree that yields the true Cinnamon, 

 and that the apparent difference arises from the less judicious 

 manner of quilling it. Perhaps the younger and more tender 

 branches should be preferred ; perhaps the age of the tree, 

 or the season of the year, ought to be more nicely attended 

 to; and it is suggested that the mucilage which adheres 

 to the inside of the fresh-peeled rind, does, when not care- 

 fully taken off, injure the flavour of the Cassia, and render 

 it inferior to that of the Cinnamon. It is said to be some- 

 times purchased by the Dutch merchants, and shipped for 

 Spain as Crnnamon, being packed in boxes which arrived 

 from Ceylon with that article. It is of the same quality as 

 Cinnamon, but inferior in fragrancy and efficacy. The bark 

 is of a mucilaginous nature, for which it is preferable to the 

 Cinnamon in purging, and disorders of the bowels ; it is an 

 excellent remedy for those complaints, in doses of a few 

 grains powdered. There appears little doubt that this is 

 the same with the preceding species, as the difference of 

 the bark may probably be owing to the difference of soil, and 

 still more to the want of skill and attention in the cultiva- 

 tors. The Cassia bark is coarsest, and will not roll up like 

 true Cinnamon; but the essential difference between the bark 

 of Cinnamon and Cassia is, that the former is always dry, 

 whereas the latter becomes macilaginous in chewing ; hence 

 it has been suggested as a conjecture, on the most respect- 

 able authority, that the superior excellence of Cinnamon 

 bark may be in a great measure owning to its being deprived 

 of that mucilage which adheres to the internal surface. 

 At least it is certain, that in a curious drawing of Herman's, 

 in the possession of the late Sir Joseph Banks, representing the 

 process of cutting and preparing Cinnamon in the island of 

 Ceylon, one of the principal figures is that of a woman, who 

 is evidently employed in this operation, of scraping (he muci- 

 lage from the inner surface of the bark. Native of Malabar, 

 .lava, and Sumatra. 



3. Laurus Camphora; Camphor or Camphire Tree. Leaves 

 triple-nerved, lanceolate, ovate. This is a large tree, very 

 near akin to the Cinnamon, from which it differs in the 

 leaves. Branches ascending; flowers white, on simple, long, 

 lateral branches ; berry small, ovate, dusky or browigh 

 red. Mr. Marsden also describes it as equal in height 



