138 
Origin  of  Ccmia  Lignea. 
f  Am  Joiir.  Pharm. 
(      Mar.,  1883. 
and  the  invariable  reply  was  that  there  was  no  other  khid.  There  is^ 
therefore,  I  think,  no  doubt  bat  writers  who  have  named  other  kinds 
as  cassia-yielding  trees  of  China  have  been  mistaken  or  misinformed 
on  the  subject.  One  writer  alludes  to  a  tree  in  terms  which  partly 
corresponds  to  the  description  of  Mac/iilus  vehdina,  Champ.,  another 
tree  belonging  to  Lauracese,  and  indigenous  to  South  China.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  this  tr'^e  may  have  been  supposed  by  a  casual  observer  to 
yield  cassia  bark,  because  it  is  sometimes  grown  in  plantations  inter- 
mixed with  those  of  Olnnamomum  Cassia.  The  trees  are  reared, 
planted,  and  treated  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  the  cassia  trees ; 
but  the  bark  is  required  for  a  very  different  use,  viz.,  to  supply  a  gluti- 
nous extract  which  is  used  to  stick  together  powdered  cassia  bark  and 
sandal  wood  (Santalum  album)  to  form  the  joss-sticks  used  for  incense. 
Oinnamomum  Burmanni,  Bl.,  which  it  has  been  supposed  may  probalply 
yield  ^  in  part  the  cassia  bark  of  the  Canton  market,'  does  not,  I  feel 
sure,  supply  cassia  bark  to  any  extent.  I  did  not  see  it  anywhere  cul- 
tivated ;  nor  was  it  seen  growing  wild  in  any  but  small  quantities,  and 
these  wild  trees  bore  no  signs  of  having  been  cut  as  had  the  cassia 
trees ;  many  natives  were  asked  if  it  was  ever  used ;  but,  with  one 
exception,  all  denied  that  it  afforded  any  cassia  bark.  The  one  excep- 
tion was  an  old  w^oman,  who  was  cultivating  a  field  of  Indian  corn 
close  to  a  few  small  trees  of  Cinnamomum  Burmanni,  and  who  said  that 
its  bark  was  sometimes,  but  rarely,  used  to  adulterate  the  true  cassia 
bark.'' 
Mr.  Ford  on  his  return  journey  paid  a  visit  to  the  well-known 
Chinese  botanist.  Dr.  Hance,  H.M.  Vice-Consul  at  Whampoa,  who 
identified  the  specimens  of  the  cassia  lignea  tree  collected  by  Mr.  Ford 
as  belonging  to  Cinnamomum  Cassia.  There  is,  in  fact,  in  the  Kew 
Herbarium  a  specimen  of  the  same  species  collected  by  Dr.  Hance  in 
1876  ;  but  I  have  searched  in  vain  to  see  if  Dr.  Hance  has  published 
anything  about  it,  and  the  specimen  bears  no  note  that  it  is  the  source 
of  Cassia  Lignea.  This  specimen  is  the  material  upon  which  the  plate 
given  by  Bentley  and  Trimen  is  based,  and  represents  no  doubt  the 
true  plant. 
Cinnamomum  Cassia  Avas  first  described  by  Blume,  in  1825.^  The 
species  was  apparently  founded  on  cultivated  specimens  from  Java? 
where  Blume  states  it  was  "  ex  China  introductum." 
The  Kew  Herbarium  possesses  a  cultivated  Java  specimen  contributed 
^"Bijdragen  Fl.  Nederl.  Indie,"  ii.,  p.  570. 
