CINNAMON. 383 



ment, seeing the folly of such a ridiculous policy, very wisely 

 fostered and promoted the extended cultivation of cinnamon 

 plantations. 



In the island of Java, and in Cochin- China, cinnamon culture 

 has within the last few years made considerable progress. 



The leaves of the cinnamon tree are more or less acuminated, 

 from five to eight inches long, by about three broad, growing 

 in pairs opposite each other. They have three principal ribs, 

 which come in contact at its base, but do not unite. The leaves, 

 when first developed, are of a bright red hue, then of a pale 

 yellow, and lastly of a dark shining green ; when mature, they 

 emit a strong aromatic odor if broken or rubbed in the hands, and 

 have the pungent taste of cloves. The young twigs of the true 

 cinnamon tree are not downy, like those of the cassia bark. The 

 plant blooms in January and February, and the seeds ripen in 

 July and August. 



The blossoms grow on slender foot-stalks, of a pale yellow color, 

 from the axillae of the leaves and the extremity of the branches. 

 They are numerous clusters of small white flowers, having a 

 brownish shade in the centre, about the same size as the lilac, 

 which it resembles. The fruit is a drupe, about the size of a 

 small hedge strawberry, containing one seed, and of the shape of 

 an acorn, which when ripe is soft and of a dark purple color. 



The roots are fibrous, hard, and tough, covered with an odori- 

 ferous bark ; on the outside of a greyish brown, and on the 

 inside of a reddish hue. They strike about three feet into the 

 earth, and spread to a considerable distance. Many of them smell 

 strongly of camphor, which is sometimes extracted from them. 



The trees in their wild state will grow ordinarily to the height 

 of 30 feet. The trunk is about three feet in circumference, and 

 throws out a great number of large spreading horizontal branches, 

 clothed with thick foliage. When cultivated for their bark, the 

 trees are not permitted to rise above the height of ten feet. 



The true cinnamon tree (according to Mr. Crawfurd) is not a 

 native of the islands of the Eastern Archipelago ; but Marshall, 

 in his description and history of the tree (" Annals of Philos," 

 vol. x.) assigns very extensive limits to its cultivation. He asserts 

 that it is found on the Malabar coast, in Cochin- China, and Ton- 

 quin, Sumatra, the Soolo Archipelago, Borneo, Timor, the Nicobar 

 and Philippine Islands. It has been transplanted, and grows well 

 in the Mauritius, Bourbon and the eastern coast of Africa ; in the 

 Brazils, G-uiana, in South America, and Gruadaloupe, Martinique, 

 Tobago, and Jamaica ; but produces in the West a bark of very 

 inferior quality to the Oriental. 



Eumphius has remarked, that the trees which yield cinnamon, 

 cassia, and clove bark (Cinnamonum Culildban), though so much * 

 alike, are hardly ever found in the same countries. \ 



The term clove bark has been applied to the barks of two \ 

 different trees belonging to the natural order Laurinea. One of 

 these barks is frequently called j' Culilaban bark." It consists 



