OCR Text |
Show 596 CINNAMON TREE. CINNAMON TREE. pulpy; pericarp resembling a small olive, of a deep blue colour, exceed stout writing paper in thickness. It is of a light yellowish containing an oblong nut. 397 colour ; it possesses a sweet taste, not so hot as to occasion pain, and not succeeded by any after-taste. HISTORY. This valuable tree is a native of Ceylon, where it was guarded with unremitting jealousy by the Dutch, that they might monopolize the commerceof its productions. Theyfailed, however, in the attempt; and the cinnamon tree is now propagated, not only in other parts of the Kast Indies, but also in Jamaica, and other islands of the West Indies. Ceylon now belongs to the British, and captain Percival has published a very interesting account of the cinnamon tree. It is found in greatest perfection in the immediate neighbourhood of Columbo, and grows from four to ten feet high, very bushy. The leaves resemble those The inferior kind is di- stinguished by being thicker, of a darker and brownish colour, hot, and pungent when chewed, and succeeded by a disagreeable bitter after-taste. The Dutch were accused of deteriorating their cinnamon by mixing it with a proportion of real cinnamon, but which had been deprived of its essential oil by distillation. This fraud could only be detected by the weaker smell andtaste. It is also often mixed with cassia bark. ‘This last is easily distinguishable by its fracture being smooth, andby its slimy mucilaginous taste, without any thing of the roughness of the true cinnamon. fixed oil is obtained from it. There are several different species of cinnamon trees, or trees resembling them, in Ceylon, but By distillation with water it furnishes a small quantity of very pungent and fragrant oil; the water itself remains long milky, and has a strong flavour of cinnamon. The wateryextract in Neumann’s experiment amounted to 720 from.7680 parts. With alcohol the oil does not arise in distillation, but remains in the four only are barked by government; the honey cinnamon, the extract, which amounts to 960. snake cinnamon, the camphor cinnamon, which is inferior to The essential oil of cinnamon has a whitish yellow colour, a pungent burning taste, and the peculiar fine flavour of cinnamon in a very great degree. It should sink in water, and be entirely soluble in alcohol. It is principally prepared in Ceylon. of the laurel, and, when chewed, have the hot taste and smell of cloves. The blossom is white and very abundant, but dif- fuses no odour. The fruit resembles an acorn, anda species of these, and yields camphor from its roots, and mixed with gum from incisions made into it, and the cabatte cinnamon, whichis harsher and more astringent than the others. The bark is collected at two seasons; the grand harvest lasts from April to August, the little harvest isin December. Such branches as are three years old are lopped off; the epidermis is then scraped off, the bark slit up, loosened, and removed entire so as to form a tube open at one side. The smaller of these are inserted within the larger, and they are spread out to dry. They are then packed up in bundles. ‘The tasting of these bundles to ascertain their quality is a very disagreeable duty imposed on the surgeons. It excoriates the tongue and mouth, and causes suchintolerable pain as renders it impossible for them to continue the occupa- tion two or three days successively. In their turns, however, they are obliged to resume it, and they attempt to mitigate the pain byoccasionally eating a piece of bread and butter. It is MEDICAL USE. Cinnamonis a very elegant and useful aromatic, more grateful both to the palate and stomach than most other substances of this class. Like other aromatics, the effects of cinnamon are stimulating, heating, stomachic, carminative, and tonic; but it is rather used as an adjunct to other remedies than as a remedy itself. Theoil is one of the most powerful stimulants we possess, and is sometimes used as a cordial in cramps of the stomach, and in syncope; or as a stimulant in paralysis of the tongue, or to deaden the nerve in toothach. But it is principally employed as an aromatic, to cover the disagreeable taste of other drugs. then made upinto large bundles about fourfeet long, and eighty pounds in weight. In stowing the bales on shipboard, the interstices are filled up with black pepper, a practice whichis sup- 1. Warer or Cinnamon. (Aqua Lauri Cinnamomi.) A pound of bruised cinnamonis to be macerated for a day. posed to improve bothspices. The best cinnamon is rather pliable, and ought not much to of prescriptions, and admirably covers the disagreeable taste of PREPARATIONS. This is one of the most elegant ingredients in the composition |