34 
LAURUS CINNAMOMUM, 
The Cinnamon Tree* 
Class Enneandria. — Order Monogynia. 
Nat. Ord. Olerace^, Linn. Lauri, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Calyx none. Corolla calycine, six-parted. 
Nectary of three two-bristled glands, surrounding the 
, germen. Filaments interior, glanduliferous. Drupe ooe- 
seeded. 
Spec. Char. Leaves three-nerved, ovate, oblong, the nerves 
vanishing towards the point. 
Of the X,aurel tribe no less than five are found in the Materia 
Medica of our Colleges, and almost all of them differing materially 
in their medical properties. The cinnamon laurel, which we are 
about to notice, is a native of the Island of Ceylon, where it is found 
in great abundance, particularly near Columbo. It also grows plen- 
tifully in Malabar, Cochin China, Sumatra, and the eastern islands 
in the Indian Ocean. Cinnamon, K/vva/xw/xov of Dioscorides, is 
called by the Malays Kayu-manis, or as it is sometimes pronounced 
Kaina-manis ; and this Mr. Marshal supposes to have been the ori- 
gin of the Greek name ; which however Scagliger, and we think 
with more probability, derives from the Hebrew word Kinamon. 
Before the fifteenth century, all the cinnamon used in Europe was 
imported by the Arabs, and passed through the hands of the Vene- 
tians, who at that time engrossed all the commerce of the East : but 
after the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope by 
the Portuguese, this latter nation became the sole importers, and so 
continued until 1645,- when many of their Indian factories were 
seized by the Dutch, who now divided the trade with them. This 
jealous people exerted their usual vigilance to prevent the introduc- 
* Fig. a. the fruit. 
