— 39 — 



which, as is well-known, is obtained from Cinnamomum Cassia BL, and 

 Ceylon cinnamon, the product of C zeylanicum Nees. In the case of 

 the first-named species, all parts of the tree yield an almost identical 

 oil, containing from 75 to 9O°/ cinnamic aldehyde, but in that of 

 the latter the oils differ according to the parts of the plant from 

 which they are prepared; for instance, the oil from the bark and 

 branches is characterised by its content of cinnamic aldehyde, that 

 from the leaves by eugenol, and that from the root-bark by camphor. 



Cayla distinguishes a third species in Cinnamomum Loureirii Nees 1 ), 

 which furnishes the cinnamon used in Japan. The root-bark of this 

 oil appears to contain, besides cinnamic aldehyde, a terpene with a 

 lavender-like odour. The oil, which is exported from Tonquin and 

 Annam, is said to be derived from C Loureirii. After dealing ex- 

 haustively with the preparation and adulteration of cassia oil by the 

 Chinese, the author treats of the cultivation of the Ceylon cinnamon, 

 and the manner in which oil is obtained from this tree, which has 

 also been acclimatised in Java, India and the Seychelles islands. For 

 the purpose of laying down a plantation, a site which is protected 

 from the wind must be selected; the tree is propagated from cuttings, 

 runners, or seed. Plants taken from nurseries and planted in the 

 shade of Erythrina grow best. Where the soil is fertile the first crop 

 can be gathered during the rainy season at the end of the second 

 year. The bark is collected by cutting a circle round the trunk, draw- 

 ing vertical incisions downwards, and stripping. The stripped tree dies, 

 but from the stump from four to six shoots grow up, so that a fresh 

 crop can be gathered every year. Among the diseases to which the 

 cultivated trees are liable, Cayla mentions one which affects the leaves 

 and is caused by a fungus {Aecidium Cinnamomi), and another which 

 is manifested by the forming of gallnuts on the leaves 2 ). 



According to the experience which has been gained in cinnamon- 

 growing in the Seychelles 3 ), the trees should be stripped in the second 

 or third week of the rainy season, but in these islands the cultivation is 

 still in the experimental stage, and the exports, as yet, are quite small. 



In Annam, on the other hand, C Loureirii has long been grown. 

 The trade in the product is in the hands of the Annamese and 

 Chinese, who distinguish the following commercial brands of cinnamon, 

 viz., Que-kep, from trees over 4 inches in diameter; Que -Men, from 



x ) Comp. Report October 1904, 96; October 1906, 23; Gildemeister and Hoff- 

 mann, The Volatile Oils, p. 391. 



2 ) D. Bois and C. Gerber (Compt. rend. 149 [1909], 405) have studied this 

 disease. It is partly caused by the larvae of a leaf -flea (Psylla, according to 

 E. Green), and partly by Eriophyes Boisi Gerb. ; in the first case the shape of the 

 leaf is not affected, in the latter the leaves lose their shape. 



3 ) Report April 1909, 33. 



