206 QUALITIES OF CINNAMON. 



loosened by slits, and then taken oft' entire, cut into slices and dried, 

 when it curls up, the smaller pieces are then inserted in the larger 

 ones, and packed for market, mainly in Ceylon and Malabar. Per- 

 sons were employed to taste and chew it, to determine the several quali- 

 ties ; but the office can be performed only 2 or 3 days, as the cinna- 

 mon deprives the lips and tongue of all their mucous; the office is now 

 abolished. The bundles, when packed, are 4 feet long, weighing 88 

 pounds each. 



The offsets of the roots make the finest cinnamon. The tree is very 

 common in Ceylon, and is used for fuel. From thence it has been in- 

 troduced into the W. Indies, where it thrives well. The infusion of 

 thin pieces in boiling water is a very agreeable liquid. An oil is ex- 

 tracted also, which is very valuable as a perfume, but cassia is much 

 substituted for both the oil and bark. The leaves, the fruit and the 

 roots of cinnamon likewise yield oil. That from the fruit is highly 

 fragrant and gummy, and candles are made of it. 



The fruit is the size of the pea. and is soft and insipid. The ker- 

 nel germinates soon after falling. The wood is white, and the roots 

 are thick and exude an abundance of camphor. There are many va- 

 rieties, but only 4 are barked. The, tree is good for nothing after 18 

 years old. It has been propagated by pigeons eating the fruit ; but 

 it is now raised by planting the berries. The bark is cordial and 

 tonic, but is chiefly used to cover the nausea of other remedies. The 

 oil from the leaves is called the oil of cloves, and that from the roots 

 the oil of camphor ; both are powerfully stimulating, and are used for 

 cramps of the stomach, flatulent colic, hiccough, toothache and nervous 

 languor. L. cassia is used like cinnamon, but is inferior to it. L. 

 camphora is a species, from the roots and branches of which camphor 

 is obtained. 



92,000 pounds are said to be consumed annually by slaves in the 

 mines of S. America, each receiving a small piece as a preservative 

 against the effluvia of the mines. 



The inner bark yields its fragrance to the outer by drying, when 

 packed. A larse and small harvest of the shoots are afforded annually, 

 the first when the fruit is ripe in May and June, and the other in Nov., 

 but on the government plantations there is but one. 



Prior to 1766 it was supposed to be deprived of its virtues by culti- 

 vation, and was therefore collected only from forests. But the Dutch 

 introduced its cultivation into Ceylon, which, at the time it was taken 

 by the English, abounded with cinnamon plantations. Four or five 

 gardens now yield more than 400,000 pounds ; and 25,000 persons are 

 employed in the cultivation of it. The Dutch monopolized the trade 

 of the article, and made punishable with death the selling of a stick, 

 the extraction of the oil, the injuring of a tree, or a connivance at any 

 one of these things without the orders of governmental officers. To 



