CINNAMON. 



89 



in sanctifying the holy things of the Tabernacle : — Take 

 thou also unto thee principal spices^ of pure myrrh five 

 hundred shekels^ and of sweet cinnamon half so much^ even 

 two hundred and fifty shekels^ and of sweet calamus two 

 hundred and fifty shekels^ and of cassia five hundred shekels, 

 after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin/^ 

 Exodus XXX. 23, 34. This passage will also bear us out 

 in saying that in ancient times the term spice applied to 

 many things not spices according to our definition of the 

 term; for instance, the myrrh and sweet calamus, the former 

 being a gum-resin, and the latter a species of grass, pro- 

 bably one of the Andropogons, many of which are highly 

 fragrant. 



Some authors give the Hebrew name Kinman as to the 

 origin of the modern name ; some attribute it to the Greek 

 /ccvvdfjLco/JLov, first used by Herodotus, 430 years before 

 Christ ; but as the plant is a native of the Malay Islands 

 and Ceylon, the name is probably either of Malayan or Cin- 

 galese origin, the former being Kaimanisj and the latter 

 Cacpi-7iama, or sweet-wood. Both as a spice and also as a 

 medicine, cinnamon has been for ages in high esteem. The 

 Arabians received it from India, and from them it was trans- 

 mitted to the Hebrews, Greeks, and Eomans, 



