SPICES. 347 



portion much thinner, in proportion to the inner, than 

 the cassia of other countries ; and to that its higher 

 pungency is attributed. 



Under favourable circumstances, the cinnamon- 

 tree yields a large and a small harvest every year. 

 The large one is obtained soon after the fruit is 

 ripe ; that is, when the tree has again pushed out 

 shoots, and the sap is in vigorous circulation. May 

 and June are the best months in the year for the 

 great harvest ; in November and December the little 

 harvest is obtained. In those plantations which be- 

 long to government, however, there is but one har- 

 vest, beginning in May, and ending in October. 



Though cinnamon has found a place in our Phar- 

 macopoeia, the purpose to which it has been applied 

 by the South Americans invests it with medicinal 

 properties which it is not usually supposed to pos- 

 sess. * One thousand bales (92,000 Ibs) are said to 

 be consumed annually by the slaves in the mines of 

 South America. Each receives daily a certain 

 quantity, cut into pieces one inch in length, which 

 he eats as a preservative against the noxious effluvia 

 of the mines.'* 



Oil of cinnamon was formerly obtained at Co- 

 lombo, from distilling the fragments broken off in 

 packing ; latterly a great proportion has been made 

 from coarse cinnamon unfit for exportation. A 

 very small quantity of oil is contained in the bark ; 

 three hundred pounds of which are required to yield 

 twenty-four ounces of oil,| and consequently this is 

 extravagantly dear. When made from the finest 

 cinnamon its specific gravity is greater, but from the 

 coarse sort it is less than that of water. 



CASSIA Laurus cassia is a native of several 

 parts of the south of Asia, but it is chiefly brought 

 from China as an article of commerce. The bark 



* Cordiner's Ceylon. t Ibid. 



