IN EXTEA-TEOPICAL COUNTRIES. 75 



9«. per lb., aceordiag to quality. The limits assigned to this 

 literary compilation do not admit of entering further into 

 details on this occasion, but I may add that in the Darjeeling 

 district over three millions of cinchona plants were in culti- 

 vation already in 1869, raised in Government plantations. 

 Cultivation of cinchonas for commercial purposes was first 

 initiated in Java through Dr. Hasskarl in 1851. The Brit- 

 ish harvest in the Madras Presidency alone amounted to 

 150,000 lbs. in 1875. Dr. King reports in 1877 that 2i 

 million trees of Cinchona succirubra are now under his con- 

 trol in India. This has proved the hardiest species j it grows 

 under a wide range of conditions, and it seeds freely ; thus it 

 is the most valuable cinchona in the elevations of Sikkim. 

 All its varieties produce bark of great value. The total 

 amount of alkaloids is at an average 4 per cent. If the 

 trees were cut every seven or eight years, and simultaneous re- 

 planting should take place, Dr. King could keep up an annual 

 supply of 366,000 lbs. of bark. 



Cinna arnndinacea, Linnd. 



North America. There recorded as a good fodder grass; 

 perennial, somewhat sweet-scented. Blyttia suaveolens (Fries) 

 is, accoring to Dr. Asa Gray, a variety with pendant flowers. 



Cinnamomum Camphora, Fr. Nees.* 



The Camphor Tree of China and Japan north to Kinsin, at- 

 taining a height of about 40 feet. It endures the occasional 

 frosts of a clime like that of Port PhiUip, though the f pliage 

 will suffer. The wood, like all other parts of the tree, is per- 

 vaded by camphor ; hence resists the attacks of insects. The 

 well-known camphor is obtained by distilling or boiUng the 

 chopped wood and root ; the subsequently condensed camphoric 

 mass is subjected to a purifying sublimation process. 



Cinnamoiuiim Cassia, Blume. 



South China. It is not impossible that this tree, which pro- 

 duces the Chinese cinnamon or the so-called Cassia lignea, 

 may prove hardy outside the tropics. Sir Joseph Hooker 

 found in the Khasya mountains up to 6,000 feet three 

 cinnamons producing this Cassia bark, — namely, C. obtusi- 

 folium, C. pauciflorum, and C. Tamala, the latter extending 

 to Queensland. Dr. Thwaites notes the true Cinnamon tree 

 (C. Zeilanicum, Breyn) even up to 8,000 feet in Ceylon, but 

 the most aromatic bark comes from lower altitudes. Cinnamon 

 leaves yield a fragrant oil, and the root camphor. 



