296 INDIA CINNAMON AND RED SARSAPARILLA 
ART. LXVIIL— NOTE ON INDIA CINNAMON AND RED SARSA- 
PARILLA. 
By^J. Carson, M. D. 
In our paper on India Opium, published in the last num- 
ber of the Journal, we stated that specimens of severa^ 
drugs had been put in our possession by Dr. Ruschenberger, 
Another of them is an article of Cinnamon, so unlike that 
which is ordinarily presented in commerce, and undescribed 
in the books, that a description of it may be interesting. 
It is in bundles, composed of from 50 to 100 pieces of 
bark. Each piece is about ten inches in length, the form 
being that of a quill, or approximating to it; the strip of bark 
of which it is formed having been half an inch in breadth. 
Apparently the branches of the tree from which it was pro- 
cured have been selected with a view to uniformity. The 
thickness is one line. It is constituted of the entire bark, both 
liber and epidermis. Externally it is of a light ash color, 
light and silvery looking in patches ; little, or not at all 
wrinkled, but distinctly tuberculated. Internally it is of a 
deep brown, and smooth. On first view, it so much resem- 
bles in appearance the larger quills of fine Huanuco bark, 
as to be taken for it. The fracture is short ; the odor exceed- 
ingly fragrant, and the taste is very warm, sweet and 
agreeable. 
This species of Cinnamon is put up in Ceylon, expressly 
for the Canton market, where it is in high esteem, and com- 
mands a greater price than the ordinary kind. Its taste and 
flavor are preserved by the inner and outer layers of the 
bark being retained. 
Red Sarsaparilla. 
From the same source we have received a specimen of 
Sarsaparilla, whicli was given to Dr. R. by Dr. Burt, U.S.N. 
In the letter accompanying it, Dr. Burt says, — " I send you 
a specimen of Isthmus of Darien Sarsaparilla, said to be the 
genuine article by our Consul at Panama, who procured it 
