THE CINNAMON.

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made into bales. These are cylindrical, 3 feet 6 inches long, but of variablediameter, perhaps 16 inches on the average. These bales are enveloped by acoarse hempen cloth, called gunny. The cinnamon in boxes and chests is usu-ally the small, inferior, and mouldy pieces. The kinds of cinnamon which Ihave seen and examined 1 are the Ceylon, the Tcllicherry, and the Malabar orMadras.

l. Ceylonciiuiamoii. (Cinnamomum. zet/lanicum, seu Cinnamomum acu-tum.) —This is the most esteemed kind. The fasciculi or Compound quills, ofwhich the bales are made up, are about 3 feet 6 inches long, slender, and shi-very, and are composed of several smaller quills inclosed one within the other.The bark is thin (the finest being scarcely thicker than drawing paper), smooth,of a light yellow-brown, or brownish yellow (somewhat similar to that ofVene-tian gold), smooth, moderately pliable, with a splintery fracture, especially inthe longitudinal direction. The inner side or Über is darker and browner, andeontains, aecording to Ness, small medullary rays filled with a red Juice, andwhich he regards as the peculiar bearers of the aroma. The odour ofthe barkis highly fragrant. The flavour is warm, sweetish, and agreeable. Inspectionand tasting are the methods resorted to for ascertaining the qualities of cinna-mon. (See Percival, op. supra cit. ; also Marshall, op. supracit.)

Ceylon cinnamon is oharacterised by being cut obliquely at the bottom ofthequill, whereas the other kinds are cut transversely. In the London marketthree qualities of Ceylon cinnamon are distinguished, viz. first, seconds, andthirds. Inferior kinds are thicker, darker, browner, and have a pungent, suc-ceeded by a bitter, taste.

a. Tciiichcrry or Bombay cinnamon is grown on one estate only, at Telli-cherry, by Mr. Brown, and is whoily consigned to Messrs. Forbesand Co. Only120 or 130 bales are annually imported. In appearance it is equal to the Cey-lon kind; but the internal surface of the bark is more fibrous, and the flavouris inferior, lt is superior to the Malabar variety.

3. »ladras or Malabar Cinnamon is of inferior quality. It is grown, I am in-formed, on the Coromandel coast. It is coarser and inferior in flavour to theother kinds. In thickness it approximates to Cassia lignea. Its quality hasannually deteriorated since its introduetion into the market. It does not meetwith a ready sale, and it is expected that its importation will cease.

Besides the above three kinds of cinnamon, another has appeared in the mar-ket, from Java. 1 have not, however, had an opportunity of secing it. Javacinnamon is Said to be equal in quality to that from Ceylon, 2 over which it hasthe advantage of paying only a trifling export duty.

French pharmacologists describe a cinnamon eultivated at Cayenne. 3 Ca-yenne cinnamon is, however, unknown in the London market. Its volatile oilis more acrid and peppery than the oil from Ceylon cinnamon. (Vauquelin,Journ. de Pharm, t. iii. p. 434.)

Substitution. —In commerce, Cassia lignea is frequently substituted forcinnamon. It is distinguished by its greater thickness, its short resinous frac-ture its less delicaey but greater strength of flavour, its shorter quills, and itsbein'c packed in small bundles. The difFerence of flavour is best distinguishedwhen the barks are ground to powder. The great consumers of cinnamon arethe chocolate-makers of Spam, Italy, France, and Mexico, and by them the dif-Ference of flavour between cinnamon and cassia is readily detected. An exten-sive dealer in cinnamon informs me that the Germans, Turks, and Russians,prefer cassia, and will not purchase cinnamon, the delicate flavour of which is

i In the years 1839 and 1840,1 examined above 1000 bales of cinnamon in the Dock warehouses. In 1840I was kindly assisted in my examinalion by Mr. Carroll, of Mincing Laue, one of the most experieneedLondon dealers, who attended with rat, i,n(1 '""" wtaom I derived much practica) Information.

9 Proccedings of the CmnmMce of Commerce and Agriculture of the Äsialic Society, p. 117.a See Guibourt, Bist, abrig. des Drogues, II. 14. French pharmacologists apply the term Cannelle to Cin-namon as well as to Cassia^