120 
LAUREL. 
are aromatic. The leaves bruised between the fin-* 
gers exhale an agreeable smell, and give to the taste 
an acrid bitter flavour. They likewise serve to 
season our aliments, and are well known to the 
lovers of a bowl of punch, who considerably improve 
their liquor by the addition of a few laurel leaves. 
When they are distilled, (after being macerated a 
few hours in water,) they give out an essential and 
powerful oil. The berries, which are employed in 
medicine, have a strong but agreeable smell, and a 
sharp, bitter, and aromatic taste. 
Several of the species which compose this genus 
are of considerable service to mankind, particularly 
the cinnamon and camphor ; of which we shall pro- 
ceed to give such an account as the limits of our 
work will permit. The cinnamon-tree ( Laurus Cin- 
namomum Linn.) is a native of India, and grows 
in great abundance in the Island of Ceylon. Of 
this tree Sir Charles Thunberg has given a history 
in his Travels, to which Mr. Percival has made con- 
siderable additions in his Account of the Island of 
Ceylon. From this interesting work, therefore, we 
shall chiefly collect our particulars respecting the 
cinnamon. 
Mr. Percival informs us, that the principal cinna- 
mon woods, or gardens, as they are called in Cey- 
lon, lie in the neighbourhood of Columbo. They 
reach to within half a mile of the fort, and fill the 
whole surrounding prospect. The grand garden 
near the town is said to occupy a tract of country 
from ten to fifteen miles in length. “ Nothing,” says 
