498  Chinese  Cinnamon.  {Amoctu"iSarm" 
and  although  unable  to  identify  the  "  Chinese  cinnamon  "  plant 
with  Ceylon  cinnamon,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  the 
flowering  branches,  the  results  of  my  inquiries  tend  to  show  that 
Chinese  cinnamon  differs  very  materially  from  ordinary  Cassia 
Itgnea,  if  only  in  the  fact  that  it  is  certainly  obtained  from  very  old 
wild  trees,  whereas  the  cassia  of  commerce  is  obtained  from  culti- 
vated trees  only  (Ford). 
I  found  the  six  samples  I  worked  on  and  which  I  have  sent  to 
Mr.  Holmes  for  further  investigation,  to  differ  from  cassia  in  appear- 
ance, taste  and  smell,  and  to  contain  little  or  no  mucilage.  On  the 
other  hand  the  iodine  test  gave  a  similar  reaction  to  cassia.  Owing 
to  the  costly  nature  of  the  bark,  I  was  able  to  experiment  only  on 
very  small  quantities. 
The  Chinese  call  their  cinnamon  bark  by  different  names  and  pay 
more  in  some  cases  for  an  ounce  of  "  cinnamon  "  than  a  picul  (133^ 
lbs.)  of  cassia. 
A  cold  aqueous  infusion  of  all  six  samples  yielded  with  iodine  a 
bluish-black  coloration,  but  with  HgCl2  there  was  no  evidence  of 
the  presence  of  mucilage.  The  aroma  of  all  six  came  near  that  of 
Ceylon  cinnamon,  but  in  some  cases  there  was  a  pungency  more 
consistent  with  the  idea  of  their  being  derived  from  cassia. 
One  important  point,  however,  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  is, 
that  "  Chinese  cinnamon  "  grows  wild  in  Annam  much  further  south 
than  the  West  River  in  the  Kwangsi  and  Kwangtung  provinces, 
where  cassia  is  cultivated. 
The  Chinese  adopt  the  common  name  of  Kwei  for  both  cinnamon 
and  cassia,  but  distinguish  the  two  by  an  additional  name;  for 
instance,  ordinary  cinnamon  is  Jan  Kwei  and  ordinary  cassia 
Kwei  pi. 
Chinese  cinnamon  is  never  exported,  owing  to  the  heavy  prices  the 
Chinese  pay  for  it.  There  are  a  good  many  varieties,  all  of  which  grow 
wild  in  Annam,  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  mountain  there,  called 
Ching  Fa.  The  most  expensive  kinds  come  from  the  mountain 
itself,  and  are  obtained  from  trees  one  or  two  hundred  years  old. 
It  is  said  that  trees  of  this  age  emit  a  fragrance.  The  size  of  one 
of  these  trees  is  from  twenty  to  fifty  feet  high,  and  four  to  five  feet  in 
circumference.  Annamites,  who  go  in  search  of  these  trees,  usually 
carry  provisions  to  last  for  two  months.  Owing  to  the  enormous 
price  the  Chinese  pay  the  trees  are  denuded  of  their  bark  and  conse- 
quently die. 
