Chap. 42.] 
CINNAMOMUM. 
139 
suckers. It has then all the appearance of being dry and 
withered, and while it is green it has no odour at all. The leaf is 
like that of wild marjoram, and it thrives best in dry localities, 
being not so prolific in rainy weather ; it requires, also, to be 
kept constantly clipped. Though it grows on level ground, it 
thrives best among tangled brakes and brambles, and hence 
it is extremely difficult to be gathered. It is never gathered 
unless with the permission of the god, by whom some suppose 
Jupiter to be meant ; the ^Ethiopians, however, call him 
Assabinus.^^ They offer the entrails of forty-four oxen, goats, 
and rams, when they implore his permission to do so, but after 
all, they are not allowed to work at it before sunrise or after 
sunset. A priest divides the branches with a spear, and sets 
aside one portion of them for the god ; after which, the dealer 
stores away the rest in lumps. There is another account given, 
which states that a division is made between the gatherers and 
the sun, and that it is divided into three portions, after which 
lots are twice drawn, and the share which falls to the sun is 
left there, and forthwith ignites spontaneously. 
The thinnest parts in the sticks, for about a palm in length, 
are looked upon as producing the finest cinnamon ; the part 
that comes next, though not quite so long, is the next best, 
and so on downwards. The worst of all is that which is 
nearest the roots, from the circumstance that in that part 
there is the least bark, the portion that is the most esteemed : 
hence it is that the upper part of the tree is preferred, there 
being the greatest proportion of bark there. As for the wood, 
it is held in no esteem at all, on account of the acrid taste 
which it has, like that of wdld maijoram ; it is known as 
xylocinnamum.^^ The price of cinnamomum is ten denarii per 
pound. Some writers make mention of two kinds of cinna- 
mon, the white and the black : the white was the one that was 
formerly preferred, but now, on the contrary, the black is held 
in the highest estimation, and the mottled, even, is preferred to 
the white. The most certain test, however, of the goodness ot 
cinnamon is its not being rough, and the fact that the pieces 
when rubbed together do not readily crumble to powder. That 
which is soft is more particularly rejected, which is the case, 
also, when the outer bark too readily falls off. 
^ See c. 33 of the present Book, and the Note. 
43 Qj. a ^vood of cinnamon," 
