568 LAURACE^. 



green colour, called Oil of Bays. It is the only species found in Europe 

 in a wild state. Camphora officinarum (Laurus Gampliora), a native 

 of China, Japan, and Cochin-China, is the Camphor-tree. Many plants 

 supply a kind of Camphor, but the common camphor of the shops 

 is the produce chiefly of this tree. All parts of the tree supply it, but 

 it is obtained principally from the wood by distillation and subsequent 

 sublimation. It is used in medicine as a sedative antispasmodic, in 

 the form of mixtm-e and tincture. The Borneo camphor has been 

 noticed under the natural order Dipterocarpaceas (p. 451). Sassafras 

 officinale (Laurus Sassafras) is an American tree, the root, wood, and 

 llowers of which have been used in medicine. The root is prescribed 

 in Britain as an aromatic stimulant and diaphoretic. It contains a 

 volatile oil. A kind of Sassafras oil is procured from Nectandra cym- 

 barum (Ocotea amara) on the Oasiquiare river in S. America. Cinnamo- 

 mum zeylanicum (Laurus Cinnamomum) is the true Cinnamon-tree, 

 cultivated in Ceylon. It attains the height of 30 feet. The bark of 

 the tree constitutes the cinnamon of commerce, the pDJp, Kinam&n, of 

 the Bible. The young twigs about three years old furnish the best 

 cinnamon, as first noticed by Sir Robert Christison many years ago. 

 The bark yields by distillation an oil, which is at first of a yellow 

 colour, but soon assumes a reddish hue. The ripe fruit yields 

 a concrete oU, called cinnamon-suet. The root yields camphor. 

 Cinnamon is administered as a tonic, stomachic, and carminative. 

 The importation of cinnamon into Britain in 1872 was 1,071,461 lbs. 

 The leaves of the Cinnamon-tree are more or less acuminated ; they 

 have three principal ribs, which come into contact at its base, but do 

 not unite ; its young twigs are not downy, and its leaves have the 

 taste of cloves. Cinnamomum Cassia or aromaticum (Laurus Cassia) 

 is doubtfully considered to be the chief source of the Cassia lignea, or 

 Cassia-bark of commerce, the nip, KiMak, of the Bible. It differs 

 from the true cinnamon in many particulars. Its leaves are oblong- 

 lanceolate ; they have three ribs, which coalesce into one at the base ; 

 its young twigs are downy, and its leaves have the taste of cinnamon. 

 Cassia-bark is imported from Canton through Singapore. In 1872 

 the shipments were 10,195,200 lbs., valued at £267,703. It yields 

 a yellow volatUe oil called Oil of Cassia. Both the bark and oil are 

 administered as aromatic stimulants. It is probable that Cassia buds, 

 which consist of the flo wet-bud (perianth and ovary), are the produce 

 of the Cassia-bark tree. They are chiefly used in confectionery, and 

 they have the flavour and pungency of Cassia. Malabar Cassia 

 appears to be the produce of another species of Cinnamomum, perhaps 

 C. eucalt/ptoides. Nectandra Bodicei, a large tree 60 feet high, found 

 in British Guiana, yields a bark known as Bibiru or Bebeeru-bjirk. 

 The wood of the tree is imported for shipbuilding, under the name 

 of Green-heart. The bark was used by Dr. Kodie, who detected the 



