CORTEX ClNNAMOMl. 523 



ounces of Costus, and 2 pounds of Pepper. In a.d. 748, Theophilacias, 

 a Roman archdeacon, presents to the same bishop similar spices and 

 incense. Lulhis, the successor of Boniface, sends to Eadburga, abbatissa 

 Thanetensis,^ circa a.d. 732-751 — " U7iiim grapliium argenteum, et 

 storacis et cinnamomi jKwtem aliquam" ; and about the same date, 

 another present of cinnamon to archbishop Boniface is recorded. 

 Under date A.D. 732-742, a letter is extant of three pereons to the abbess 

 Cuneburga, to whom the writers offer — " turis et piperis et cinnamomi 

 l>ennodica xenia, sed ornni mentis ajfectione dsstiruita." 



In the 9th century, Cinnamon, pepper, costus, cloves, and several 

 indigenous aromatic plants were used in the monastery of St. Gall in 

 Switzerland as incrredients for seasonincr fish." 



Of the pecuniary value of this spice in England, there are many 

 notices from the year 12(i4 downwards.* In the 16th century it was 

 probably not plentiful, if we may judge from the fact that it figures 

 among the New Year's gifts to Philip and Mary (155G-57), and to Queen 

 Elizabeth (15G1-62).-' 



Production and Commerce' — The best cinnamon is produced, 

 according to Thwaites,^ from a cultivated or selected form of the tree 

 (var. a.), distinguished by large leaves of somewhat irregular shape. 

 But the bark of all the forms possesses the odour of cinnamon in a 

 greater or less degree. It is not however always possible to judge of 

 the quality of the bark from the foliage, so that the peelers when col- 

 lecting from uncultivated trees, are in the habit of tasting the bark 

 before commencing operations, and pass over some trees as unfit for their 

 purpose. The bark of varieties /3. niultilioniin and y. avalifoliitm is of 

 very inferior quality, and said to be never collected unless for the pur- 

 pose of adulteration. 



The best variety appeai-s to find the conditions most favourable to its 

 culture, in the strip of country, 12 to 15 miles broad, on the south-west 

 coast of Ceylon, between Negumbo, Colombo and Matura, where the 

 tree is grown up to an elevation of 1500 feet. A very sandy clay soil, 

 or fine white quartz, with a good sub-soil and free exposure to the 

 sun and rain, are the circumstances best adapted for the cultivation. 

 The management of the plantations resembles that of oak coppice in 

 England. The system of pruning checks the plant from becoming a 

 tree, and induces it to form a stool from which four or five shoots are 

 allowed to grow ; these are cut at the age of 1^ to 2 years, when the 

 greyish-green epidermis begins to tuna brown by reason of the formation 

 of a corky layer. They are not all cut at the same time, but only as 

 the}-^ arrive at the proper state of maturity ; they are then 6 to 10 feet 

 high' and i to 2 inches thick. In some of the cinnamon gardens at 

 Colombo, the stools are very large and old, dating back, it is supposed, 

 from the time of the Dutch. 



In consequence of the increased flow of sap which occurs after the 



' Doubtless Eadburh, third abbess of * Xicholls, Progre^^es and Processiom of 



Minster in thelsle of Thanet iu Kent. Q. Elizabeth, i. (1823) xxxiv. 118. 

 .She died a.d. 751. 5 Additional information may be found in 



•-P/i«r»i. yoMr/i. viiL (1877) 121. two papers by Marshall, in Thomson's 



3 Eden, State of the Poor, ii. (1797) ap- Annals of Philosophy, x. (1817) 241 and 



pendix ; Rogers, Hist, of Ar/ricuUure and 346 ; see also Leschenault de la Tour, Mem 



Prices in EnjUnul, ii. (18<j6) 54.3. dii Mnsee 'I'Hist. nut. viii. (1822) 436-446 



6 Op. cU. 252-253. 



