Ball — On the Colloquies of Garcia Be Orta. 401 
West IndieSj lie says, tlie pods were hollow and large. Its chief 
use was (and is at present) as yielding a mucilage which acts as 
a purge. Garcia discusses various fabulous attributes given to the 
shells of the pod and other parts of the tree. 
[References. — Clusius (Acosta), P- '^1 ; Linschoten, u., pp. 121, 122 ; 
Bontius and Fiso, lib. vi., p. 101, fig.; AinsUe, i., p. 60; FlucMger 
and Sanhury., p. 195 ; Khory, p. 247.] 
COLLOQUY XV. 
I) A Canela e da Cassia lignea e do Cinamomo. 
[Cinnamon. — The bark of Cinnamom zeylanicum, Ereyne, and other 
species.] Called salihaclia by the Arabs and Persians ; quer fa (the 
canela), by the Arabs ; darcliini in Hormuz ; cais7na7iis and caismao, 
Malaya ; cuiirdo (Jcurundo) in Ceylon ; camea in Malabar. 
Garcia says all the above are one and the same, though bearing 
different names, conferred by people at a distance who did not under- 
stand their nature properly, and were misled by differences in appear- 
ance and quality. He dismisses contemptuously the fables told about 
cinnamon by Pliny and Herodotus. He also disposes of the myth of 
its being derived from Ethiopia, saying that in early times it was 
carried by the Chinese (the casna lignea from China) to Hormuz ; 
and those who took it thence to Aleppo misinformed the Greeks 
as to its true source. Parenthetically he remarks on the diversity 
produced in fruits, not only by grafting, but also by transplanting 
from one country to another. 
He speaks of the China trade which had existed with Ceylon, 
Malacca, and Hormuz, as many as 400 junks having, it is recorded, 
arrived in a single tide at Hormuz. He mentions a fort called China 
cota at Calicut, erected by the Chinese, and of a memorial stone left by 
I them at Cochin. 
The name cinnamon he derives from amomo (^cardamom) of China, 
1 and cassia from caismanis (Jcaimanis). This long colloquy contains 
much information, and concludes with a picturesque description of 
I Ceylon. 
i [E-eferences. — Clusius (Acosta), p. 22; Zitischote?i, ii., p. 76; 
I Fiso in Mantissa AromaUca, p. 165, fig.; Ainslie, i., p. 72; Fluchiger 
\ and Ranhury^ p. 466 ; Khory, p. 472.] 
