340 i'HlLOSOPHICAL TRANSACT10x\S. [aNNO J 729, 



distance sailed to a greater exactness than the iron fork is capable of, in the 

 manner formerly described. 



yt second Letter from Mr. Colin M'Laurm, F. R. S. to Martin Folkes, Esq. 

 Concerning the Roots of Equations, ivith the Demonstration of other Rules 

 in Algebra ; the Subject continued froin N° 3g4. N'' 408, p. SQ. 



The chief and most useful part of this paper is printed p. 145 of this 

 volume. 



An j4ccount of the Cinna?non Tree* in Ceylon, and its several Sorts. Com- 

 municated by the Chief Inspector of the Ciujiamon Trade and Manufacture in 

 that Island to Albertus Seba,'\- Druggist at Amsterdam. Translated by the 

 late Dr. Scheuchzer, F. R. S. N° 4O9, p. 97. 



The best sort of cinnamon, which grows in great plenty in Ceylon, and is 

 peculiar to that island, is called by the natives rasse coronde, which is as much 

 as to say, sharp, sweet cinnamon. This choice sort is exported yearly by 

 the Dutch East India Company, by whom it has been prohibited under severe 

 penalties, that no other sort whatever should be mixed with it. 



The 2d sort is called canatte coronde, that is, bitter and astringent cinna- 

 mon; for the Ceylonese, in their language, call cinnamon in general coronde, 

 and canatte signifies bitter and astringent. The bark of this tree comes off 

 very easily, and smells very agreeably when fresh, but has a bitter taste. It is 

 an advantage to us, that it grows not in great plenty hereabouts, as one might 

 easily mistake it for a better ; as indeed, in general, it requires a good deal of 



* The cinnamon-tree, of which there are probably some varieties, is the laurus ciiummojmim of 

 Linnaeus. 



"t" Albert Seba, an apothecary, at Amsterdam, must liave been born towards die decline of the 

 16th century. He was the collector of one of the most extensive museums ever formed by an in- 

 dividual. This he caused to be described, and published in the most magnificent manner, in 4 

 volumes large folio. The first volume, which comprises a miscellaneous assemblage of plants, birds, 

 quadrupeds, and amphibia, was published in l/S* ; the second, which is chiefly confined to snakes, 

 in 1735 ; the third, containing fishes, mollusca, shells, zoophytes, &c. in 1758 ; and the last, com- 

 prising insects and minerals, in 176'5. Some copies of this work, which bears for its title Thesaurus 

 Rerum Naluralium, were coloured. It mvist be confessed to be, on the whole, the most splendid 

 and copious work e.xtant on natural history at the period of its publication. The engravings are 

 executed with great strength and spirit, and many of tliem have been frequently copied into other 

 publications of a similar nature. The descriptions, which are, (in most copies,) in Latin and French, 

 are rather general than scientific, especially those of the first two volumes : those of fishes were 

 drawn up by Artedi. After the death of Seba, his museum was sold and dispersed ; but his 

 executors had been so negligent in tlie preservation of the insects, that tliey were nearly destroyed. 



