SPICES AND CONDIMENTS. 217 



In our markets ginger is drier than abroad, as is usually the fact with 

 all such substances in our climate. The percentage of ash among 

 Young's samples reached 8.0, but did not go below our lowest determi- 

 nation, and our variations in fiber include his figures and those of Tresh. 



In other respects our determinations agree with those of the two in- 

 vestigators mentioned, and from their increased number serve as a fair 

 basis for comparison. 



A careful qualitative examination of the character of the extracts at 

 times may reveal the presence of an adulterant, but the chief depend- 

 ence must, it seems, in the examination of this spice, be placed upon 

 the microscope. This, however, will not reveal the presence of ex- 

 hausted ginger, and a careful study of the effect of exhaustion on the 

 proximate composition of the ground root is therefore desirable. It 

 would naturally increase the relative of percentages of fiber and albu- 

 minoids and starch and diminish that of extractive matter. 



CINNAMON AND CASSIA 



Cinnamon and cassia are the barks of several species of the genus 

 Cinnamomum, the true cinnamon (C. zeylanicum) being a native of Cey- 

 lon, where it is also largely cultivated, while the cassias are derived 

 from several species growing in Bengal and in the countries east of In- 

 dia, especially China and in the Indian Archipelago. In our markets 

 the Chinese and Malabar cassias occupy the most prominent place, 

 Batavia and various other localities supplying a poorer quality. Cey- 

 lon cinnamon is only found in small amount and usually is in use as a 

 drug. In our experience it is not to be procured in a ground condition. 

 In their original form there is no difficulty in identifying the various 

 barks by their peculiar characteristics. Ceylon cinnamon, during its 

 preparation, is deprived of its outer corky coat and of the inner cortical 

 layers. It is therefore thin, not more than one-eighth to one-sixteenth 

 inch thick, and is distinguished by having the quills, which curl in ward 

 on each side, arranged one within the other, forming a flattened cylin- 

 der, originally a yard long. Its color is a dull brown, and the removal 

 of the outer coats is discovered by the appearance on the exterior of the 

 peculiar wavy structure of the inner layers of the bark. 



Cassia, on the other hand, commonly shows the outer corky coat of the 

 bark, and is, in consequence, much thicker, rougher, and of not so red 

 color. In some cases, however, the bark is scraped, but the character of 

 the surfaces are still distinctly marked, and it is thicker and deeper in 

 color than cinnamon. 



Microscopically, true cinnamon consists of thin layers, which in the 

 ground drug are represented most prominently by the long cells of woody 

 fiber or liber fibers which are scattered through the bark, and which are 

 distinctly seen under polarized light, the stellate cells of the outer 

 layers and the thinner cells of the interior carrying the few starch 

 grains. In cassia, which of course bears a close general resemblance 



