308 
L A U R U S. 
or bitter aftringent cinnamon. The bark of this comes 
■ off very eafily, and fmells very agreeably when frefh, but 
has a bitter talie. It has an advantage that it is not fo 
plentiful as the fir it ; becaufe it requires much Ikill and 
attention to diftinguilh them. The root of this yields a 
very good fort of camphor. The third is called capperce 
coronde, or camphorated cinnamon, becaufe it has a very 
ftrong fmell and tafte of camphor. It grows plentifully 
in the ifland, but not in the ealtern part. However, they 
find means to fend it over privately, and fell it to the 
Danes and Englilh trading upon the coafts of Coroman¬ 
del. The fourth fort is called zuelle coronde, or fandy cin¬ 
namon, becaufe upon being chewed it feels gritty, or as 
if grains of fand were between the teeth. The bark comes 
off eafily, but is not fo readily rolled up. It is of a (harp 
bitterilh tafte, and the roots yield only a fmall quantity 
of camphor. The fifth fort is called Jewel coronde, gluti¬ 
nous or mucilaginous cinnamon. This acquires in dry¬ 
ing a confiderable degree of hardnefs ; it has little tafte, 
and an ungrateful fmelJ; bat the colour is very fine, and 
the natives mix a good deal of it with the beft fort, the 
colour being much alike, except that in the genuine fort 
there are fome few yellowifh fpots towards the extremi¬ 
ties. The fi xth fort is called niche coronde, the tree bear¬ 
ing much refemblance to another tree which the natives 
call rtieke gas. The bark has no tafte or fmell, and is only 
ufed by the natives in medicine. By roafting it they ob¬ 
tain an oil, with which they anoint themfelves to keep 
off infection ; and they exprefs a juice from the leaves, 
with which they rub their heads, to cool and ftrengthen 
the brain. The feventh is called dazuel coronde, or drum- 
cinnamon ; the wood being light and tough, and ufed by 
the natives for making drums. The bark is taken oft' 
whilft the tree is yet growing ; is of a pale colour, and is 
ufed for the fame purpofes as the fixth. The eighth fort 
is called catle coronde, thorny or prickly cinnamon ; the 
tree being very prickly. The bark is in fome meafure 
like that of the true cinnamon, but it has nothing of the 
tafte or fmell, and the leaves differ very much. The na¬ 
tives apply the root, bark, and leaves, in form of cata- 
plafms to tumours. The ninth fort is called mad coronde, 
or flowering cinnamon, being always in bloflbm. The 
flowers come neareft to thole of the firft fort, but they 
bear no fruit. The wood never becomes fo folid and 
weighty in this as in the others, which are fometimes 
eight, nine, or ten, feet, in circumference. If this tree 
be cut or bored into, a limpid water will iffue from the 
wound, as from the birch-tree, but it is of no ufe, any 
snore than the leaves and bark. There is a tenth fort, 
called tdupat coronde, 'or three-leaved cinnamon, which does 
not grow near the Dutch fettlements, but higher up to¬ 
wards Candia. Some of thefe are probably the callia ; and 
the ninth is the male tree of the true cinnamon. 
With relpeift to the time when the bark is fit to be taken 
oft’, fome trees are ready two or three years fooner than others, 
owing to the difference of foil which they grow in; thofe 
for inltance which grove in valleys where the ground is a 
fine whitifh fand, will be fit to have the bark taken off in 
five years; but, others which ftand in a wet (limy foil, 
mull have (even or eight years to grow before they are fit 
to bark. Thofe trees are alfo later which grow in the 
(hade of other large trees, whereby the fun is kept from 
their roots. Hence alfo it is, that the bark of fuch trees 
has not that fweetriefs obfervable in the bark of thofe 
which grow in a white fandy ground, where with little 
wet they ftand full expofed to the fun ; but is rather of a 
bitterilh tafte, fomewhat aftringent, and fmells like cam¬ 
phor; for by the heat of the fun’s rays the camphor is 
made fo volatile, that it riles up and mixes with the juices 
of the tree, where it undergoes a fmall fermentation; and 
then, riling ftill higher between the wood and the thin 
inner membrane of the bark, it is fo effectually diffufed 
through the branches and leaves, that there is not theleaft 
footftep of it to be perceived.. Meanwhile that thin and 
glutinous membrane which lines the bark on the iniide 
attracts all the pure ft and fweeteft particles of the fap, 
leaving the thick and grofs ones to pulh forwards, in or¬ 
der to nourilh the branches, leaves, and fruit. If the bark 
be freffi taken off, that lap which remains in the tree has 
a bitterilh tafte, not unlike that of cloves. On the con¬ 
trary, the inner membrane of the bark, when frelh taken 
off, has a moft exquifite fweetnefs, whillt the outer part 
differs very little in tafte from that of other trees. But, 
when the bark is laid in the fun to be dried and roll up, 
this oily and agreeable fweetnefs of the inner membrane 
is diffufed through the whole. The bark may be taken 
off from trees that have flood fourteen, fifteen, or lixteen, 
years, according to the quality of the foil; but beyond 
that time they lofe by degrees their agreeable fweetnefs, 
and the bark has more of the tafte of camphor. Befides, 
the bark is then become fo thick, that, when laid in the 
fun, it will no longer roll up, but remain flat. To ac¬ 
count for the great quantities of cinnamon-trees (till re¬ 
maining on the ifland of Ceylon, after the general expor¬ 
tation of the bark that has prevailed during feveral cen¬ 
turies, fome authors have allured us, that after the bark 
has been ftripped off the tree, it becomes fit to be (tripped 
a fecond time in four or five years. But this affertion is 
no lei’s contrary to obfervation than iL is to the common 
courfe of nature. The truth is, the barked trees, being 
cut down, quickly put forth new (hoots, which, in a pe¬ 
riod of from five to eight years, come again to the knife. 
Great numbers alfo of trees are continually fpringing 
from the fruit which either drops upon the ground, or is 
diffeminated by the wild doves called there cinnamon-eaters ; 
infomuch that here and there along the roads fuch quan¬ 
tities of thefe young trees are to be feen, as to look like 
little woods. 
The inner bark of this fpecies is the fpice fo well known 
under the name of cinnamon. The ufe of the cinnamon- 
tree however is not confined to the bark; for it is remark¬ 
able that the leaves, fruit, and root, all yield oils of dif¬ 
ferent qualities, and of confiderable value. That pro¬ 
duced from the leaves is called oil of cloves, and oleum 
malabathri; that from the fruit is extremely fragrant, and 
of a thick confidence, and at Ceylon is faid to be made 
into candles, for the foie ufe of the king; and the bark 
from the root not only affords an aromatic oil, which has 
been called oil of camphor, but alfo a fpecies of camphor 
which is purer and whiter than the common camphor. 
The bark of the cinnamon-tree, while on the tree, is flrft 
ftripped of its outer greenilh coat; and is then cut longi¬ 
tudinally from the tree, and dried in the fand, till it be¬ 
comes fit for the market, when it is of a reddilh yellow 
or pale rufty-iron colour, very light, thin, and curling up 
into quills or flakes. Cinnamon is one of the moft grate¬ 
ful of aromatics; its qualities are extracted both by wa¬ 
ter and fpirit. It is an aftringent, and corroborates the 
vifeera, and proves of great fervice in feveral kinds of 
alvine fluxes, and immoderate uterine difeharges. An ef- 
fential oil is fometimes prepared from cinnamon, which 
is moft exceflively pungent, (o as to produce an efehar on 
the lkin, if applied to it; but in doles of a drop or two 
properly diluted, with fugar, mucilages, See. it is faid to 
be one of the moft immediate cordials and reftoratives in 
cafes of languor and debility. 
Cinnamon is a native of the ifland of Ceylon. Linnaeus, 
in his Hortus Cliffortjanus (1737), fpeaks of it as a for¬ 
bidden tree, not then known in Europe but from dried 
fpecimens, and not eafy to be introduced, probably from 
the jealoul’y of the Dutch. It was however cultivated by 
Mr. Miller before 1768; and is now cultivated both in 
cur territories in the Eaft Indies, and in the illandsof the 
Weft Indies. Monf. Poivrealfo introduced it, along with 
the nutmeg and clove, into the Ifles of France and Bour¬ 
bon. Dr. George Young had one hundred and forty cin¬ 
namon-trees at St. Vincent's in May 1772. In 1789 it 
was fuccefsfully cultivated in Jamaica, from trees taken 
in a French prize by admiral Rodney, and prefented by 
him to the aflembly of that illand. In *792, i’amples of 
