ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, IX. v. 1-3 



Of cinnamon and cassia : various accounts. 



V. l Of cinnamon and cassia the following account 

 is given : both are shrubs, it is said, and not of large 

 size, but of the same size as bushes of chaste-tree, 

 with many branches and woody. When they cut 

 down the whole cinnamon-tree, they divide it into 

 five parts ; of these the first is that which grows 

 next the branches and this is the best : this is cut in 

 lengths a span long or a little longer ; next comes 

 the second kind, which is cut in shorter lengths ; 

 then come the third and the fourth, and last the 

 least valuable wood, which grows next the root ; for 

 this has least bark, and it is the bark and not the 

 wood which is serviceable ; wherefore the part which 

 grows high up the tree is the best, since it has the 

 most bark. Such is the account given by some. 



Others say that cinnamon is shrubby or rather like 

 an under-shrub ; and that there are two kinds, one 

 black, the other white. 2 And there is also a tale told 

 about it ; they say that it grows in deep glens, and 

 that in these there are numerous snakes which have 

 a deadly bite ; against these they protect their 

 hands and feet before they go down into the glens, 

 and then, when they have brought up the cinnamon, 

 they divide it in three parts and draw lots for it with 

 the sun ; and whatever portion falls to the lot of the 

 sun they leave behind ; and they say that, as soon as 

 they leave the spot, they see this take fire. Now 

 this is sheer fable. 



3 Cassia, they say, has stouter branches, which are 

 very fibrous and difficult to strip of the bark 4 ; and 

 it is the bark of this tree also which is serviceable. 



3 Plin. 12. 95-97. 



4 irept^AoTcrai H. ; TrepHptevffai UMP 2 Ald. cf. de ignt 72. 



243 



R 2 



