part 21

(1877).

[1796] _Punjab Plants_, Lahore 1869. 174—also MS. note attached to specimens in Herb. Kew.

[1797] _Liber Fundamentorum Pharmacologiæ_, ed. Seligmann, Vindobonæ, 1830. 40.

[1798] Lib. ii. tract. 2. c. 541. (Valgrisi edition, 1564. i. 357.)

[1799] Sontheimer’s transl. i. (1840) 132.

[1800] Fleming, _Catal. of Indian Med. Plants and Drugs_, Calcutta, 1810. 31.

=Description=—The seeds, like those of other species of _Plantago_, are of boat-shaped form, the albumen being deeply furrowed on one side and vaulted on the other. They are a little over ⅒ of an inch in length and nearly half as broad, and so light that 100 weigh scarcely three grains. Their colour is a light pinkish grey with an elongated brown spot on the vaulted back, due to the embryo, which at this point is in close contact with the translucent testa. From this brown spot the thick radicle runs to the top of the seed. The hollow side of the seed is also brown and partially covered with a thin white membrane.

The seeds are highly mucilaginous in the mouth, but have neither taste nor odour. Those of the allied _P. Psyllium_ have nearly the same form, but are shining and of a dark brown hue.

=Microscopic Structure=—This can be best investigated by immersing the seed in benzol, as in this medium the mucilage is insoluble. When thus examined, the whole surface is seen to consist of polyhedral cells, separated by a very thin brown layer from the albumen, which on the back of the seed is only 70 mkm. thick. The albumen is made up of thick-walled cells, loaded with granules of matter which acquire an orange hue on addition of iodine. The two cotyledons adhere in a direction perpendicular to the bottom of the furrow; their tissue is composed of thin-walled smaller cells, containing also albuminous granules and drops of fatty oil.

If the seed is immersed in water, the cells composing the epidermis instantly swell and elongate, and soon burst, leaving only fragments of their walls. When examined under glycerin, the change is more gradual, and the outer walls of the cells yielding the mucilage display a series of thin layers, which slowly swell and disappear by the action of water. The mucilage is consequently not contained within the cells, but is formed of the secondary deposits on their walls, as in linseed and quince pips.

=Chemical Composition=—Mucilage is so abundantly yielded by these seeds, that one part of them with 20 parts of water forms a thick tasteless jelly. On addition of a larger quantity of water and filtering, but little mucilage passes, the greater part of it adhering to the seeds. The mucilage separated by straining with pressure does not redden litmus, is not affected by iodine, nor precipitated by borax, alcohol or ferric chloride. The fat oil and albuminous matter of the seed have not been examined.

=Uses=—A decoction of the seeds (1 p. to 70 p. of water) is employed in India as a cooling, demulcent drink. The seeds powdered and mixed with sugar, or made gelatinous with water, are sometimes given in chronic diarrhœa.

POLYGONACEÆ.

RADIX RHEI.

_Rhubarb_; F. _Rhubarbe_; G. _Rhabarber_.

=Botanical Origin=—No competent observer, as far as we know, has ever ascertained as an eye-witness the species of Rheum which affords the commercial rhubarb. Rheum officinale, from which it seems, at least

## partly, derived is the only species yielding a rootstock which agrees

with the drug.

_Rheum officinale_ Baillon is a perennial noble plant resembling the Common Garden Rhubarb, but of larger size. It differs from the latter in several particulars: the leaves spring from a distinct crown rising some inches above the surface of the ground; they have a subcylindrical petiole, which as well as the veins of the under side of the lamina is covered with a pubescence of short erect hairs. The lamina, the outline of which is orbicular, cordate at the base, is shortly 5-to 7-lobed, with the lobes coarsely and irregularly dentate; it attains 4 to 4½ feet in length and rather more in breadth. The first leaves in spring display before expanding the peculiar metallic red hue of copper.

The plant was discovered in South-eastern Tibet, where it is said to be often cultivated for the sake of its medicinal root; but it is supposed to grow in various parts of Western and North-western China, whence the supplies of rhubarb are derived. It was obtained by the French missionaries about the year 1867 for Dabry, French Consul at Hankow, who transmitted specimens to Dr. Soubeiran of Paris. From one of these which flowered at Montmorency in 1871, a botanical description was drawn up by Baillon.[1801]

To what extent the rhubarb of commerce is derived from this plant is not known. But that the latter may be a true source of the drug is supported by the fact, that there is at least no important discrepancy between it and the accounts and figures, scanty and imperfect though they are, given by Chinese authors and the old Jesuit missionaries; and still more by the agreement in structure which exists between its root and the Asiatic rhubarb of commerce.

We have engaged in 1873 Mr. Rufus Usher at Bodicott (see below, p. 500) to cultivate Rheum officinale, which is there admirably succeeding; but it must be granted that as yet the root, notwithstanding the most careful preparation in drying it, is far from displaying the rich yellow of the commercial drug. It is most obviously marked on the other hand with the characteristic ring of stellate markings, which we have constantly observed in many roots of Rheum officinale cultivated by us at Clapham Common near London, as well as at Strassburg or, by other observers, at Paris.

_Rheum palmatum_ L., a species known as long as 1750, has always been supposed to yield also rhubarb, and this has again been asserted by the Russian Colonel Przewalski, who observed in 1872 and 1873 that plant in the Alpine parts of Tangut round the Lake Kuku-nor, in the Chinese province of Kansu, in 36°-38° North Lat.—Rheum palmatum has been frequently cultivated in Russian Asia and in many parts of Europe since the last century, but without producing a root agreeing with Chinese rhubarb. Now, Przewalski states that from this species the drug under notice is largely collected along the river Tetung-gol (or Datung-ho), a tributary of the upper Hoang-ho, northward of the Kuku-nor. Specimens of that root were largely brought to St. Petersburg by Przewalski, but Dragendorff expressly points out in his _Jahresbericht_ for 1877 (p. 78) that it is _dissimilar_ to true rhubarb.

[1801] _Adansonia_, x. 246; _Association Française pour l’avancement de la Science_, Comptes Rendus de la 1ʳᵉ Session, 1872. 514-529. pl. x.—The figure which is reproduced in Lanessan’s French translation of the _Pharmacographia_, ii. (Paris, 1878) 210, gives a good idea of the highly ornamental character of Rheum officinale.

=History=[1802]—The Chinese appear to have been acquainted with the properties of rhubarb from a period long anterior to the Christian era, for the drug is treated of in the herbal called _Pen-king_, which is attributed to the Emperor Shen-nung, the father of Chinese agriculture and medicine, who reigned about 2700 B.C. The drug is named there _Huang-liang_, yellow, excellent, and _Ta-huang_, the great yellow.[1803] The latter name also occurs in the great Geography of China, where it is stated that rhubarb was a tribute of the province Si-ning-fu, eastward of Lake Kuku-nor,[1804] from about the 7th to the 10th centuries of our era.

As regards Western Asia and Europe, we find a root called ῤᾶ or ῤῆον, mentioned by Dioscorides as brought from beyond the Bosphorus. The same drug is alluded to in the fourth century by Ammianus Marcellinus,[1805] who states that it takes its name from the river Rha (the modern Volga), on whose banks it grows. Pliny describes a root termed _Rhacoma_, which when pounded yielded a colour like that of wine but inclining to saffron, and was brought from beyond Pontus.

The drug thus described is usually regarded as rhubarb, or at least as the root of some species of _Rheum_, but whether produced in the regions of the Euxine (Pontus), or merely received thence from remoter countries, is a question that cannot be solved.

It is however certain that the name _Radix pontica_ or _Rha ponticum_, used by Scribonius Largus[1806] and Celsus,[1807] was applied in allusion to the region whence the drug was received. Lassen has shown that trading caravans from Shensi in Northern China arrived at Bokhara as early as the year 114 B.C. Goods thus transported might reach Europe either by way of the Black Sea, or by conveyance down the Indus to the ancient port of Barbarike. Vincent suggests[1808] that the _rha_ imported by the first route would naturally be termed _rha-ponticum_, while that brought by the second might be called _rha-barbarum_.

We are not prepared to accept this plausible hypothesis. It receives no support from the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (_circa_ A.D. 64), whose list of the exports of Barbarike[1809] does not include rhubarb; nor is rhubarb named among the articles on which duty was levied at the Roman custom-house of Alexandria (A.D. 176-180).[1810]

The terms _Rheum barbarum_ vel _barbaricum_ or _Reu barbarum_ occur in the writings of Alexander Trallianus[1811] about the middle of the 6th century, and in those of Benedictus Crispus,[1812] archbishop of Milan, and Isidore[1813] of Seville, who both flourished in the 7th century. Among the Arabian writers on medicine, the younger Mesue, in the early part of the 11th century, mentions the rhubarb of China as superior to the _Barbaric_ or Turkish.[1814] Constantinus Africanus[1815] about the same period speaks of Indian and Pontic _Rheum_, the former of which he declares to be preferable. In 1154 the celebrated Arabian geographer Edrisi[1816] mentions rhubarb as a product of China, growing in the mountains of Buthink—probably the environs of north-eastern Tibet near Lake Tengri Nor (or Bathang in Western Szechuen?).

[1802] For further particulars see Flückiger, _Pharm. J._ vi. (1876) 861; also _Proc. Americ. Pharm. Assoc._ 1876. 130, with fig. showing Rheum officinale grown in a poor soil.

[1803] Bretschneider, _Chinese Botanical Works_, Foochow, 1870. 2.

[1804] Flückiger, _l.c._

[1805] _Scriptores Historiæ Romanæ latini veteres_, ii. (1743) 511 (Amm. Marc. xxii. c. 8.)

[1806] _De Compositione Medicamentorum_, c. 167.

[1807] _De Medicinâ_. lib. v. c. 23.

[1808] Vincent, _Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients_, ii. (1807) 389.

[1809] _Ibid._, _op. cit._ ii. 390.

[1810] _Ibid._, _op. cit._ ii. 686.

[1811] Lib. viii. c. 3 (Haller’s edition).

[1812] Migne, _Patrologiæ Cursus_, lxxxix. 374.

[1813] Migne. _op. cit._, lxxxii. 628. The explanation given by Isidore is this:—“_Reubarbarum_, sive _Reuponticum_: illud quod trans Danubium in solo barbarico; istud quod circa Pontum colligitur, nominatum est. _Reu_ autem _radix_ dicitur. _Reubarbarum_ ergo, quasi _radix barbara_. _Reuponticum_ quasi _radix pontica_.” But Isidore was fond of such derivations.

[1814] _Ravedsceni_, _Raved barbarum_, and _Raved Turchicum_ are the terms used in the Latin translations we have consulted.

[1815] _De omnibus medico cognitu necessariis_, Basil. 1539. 354.

[1816] Translation of Jaubert, i. (Paris, 1836) 494.

Rhubarb in the 12th century was probably imported from India, as we may infer from the tariff of duties levied at the port of Acon in Syria, in which document[1817] it is enumerated along with many Indian drugs. A similar list of A.D. 1271, relating to Barcelona, mentions _Ruibarbo_.[1818] In a statute of the city of Pisa called the _Breve Fundacariorum_, dating 1305, rhubarb (_ribarbari_) is classified with commodities of the Levant and India.[1819]

The first and almost the only European who has visited the rhubarb-yielding countries of China is the famous Venetian traveller, Marco Polo,[1820] who speaking of the province of Tangut says—“ ... et par toutes les montagnes de ces provinces se treuve le _reobarbe_ en grant habondance. Et illec l’achatent les marchans et le portent par le monde.”

A sketch of the history of rhubarb would be incomplete without some reference to the various routes by which the drug has been conveyed to Europe from the western provinces of the Chinese Empire, and which have given rise to the familiar designations of _Russian_, _Turkey_ and _China Rhubarb_.[1821]

[1817] _Assises de Jérusalem_ contained in the _Recueil des Historiens des Croisades_, _Lois_, ii. (1843) 176.

[1818] Capmany, _Memorias de ... Barcelona_, i. (1779) 44.

[1819] Bonaini, _Statuti inediti della città di Pisa dal xii al xiv secolo_, iii. (Firenze, 1857) 106. 115.

[1820] Pauthier, _Le Livre de Marco Polo ... rédigé en français sous sa dictée en 1298 par Rusticien de Pise_, i. (1865) 165. ii. 490.

[1821] For further particulars, see my paper mentioned at page 493, note 1.—F. A. F.

The _first_ route is that over the barren steppes of Central Asia by Yarkand, Kashgar, Turkestan, and the Caspian to Russia; the _second_ by the Indus or the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea and Alexandria, or by Persia to Syria and Asia Minor; and the _third_ by way of Canton, the only port of the Chinese Empire which, previous to the year 1842, held direct communication with Europe.

In 1653 China first permitted Russia to trade on her actual frontiers. The traffic in Chinese goods was thereupon diverted from the line of the Caspian and Black Sea further north, taking its way from Tangut across the steppes of the high Gobi, and through Siberia by Tobolsk to Moscow. Thus it is mentioned in 1719 that Urga on the north edge of the Gobi desert was the principal depôt for rhubarb. From the earliest times, Bucharian merchants appear to have been agents on this traffic, the producers of the drug never concerning themselves about its export.

Consequent on the rectification of frontier in 1728, a line of custom-houses was established by treaty between Russia and China, whereby the commerce, previously unrestricted, was limited to the government caravans which passed the frontier only at Kiachta and at Zuruchaitu, south of Nerchinsk. The latter place always remained unimportant, while Kiachta and the opposite Chinese town of Maimatchin became the staple depôts of rhubarb.

The root was subjected to special control as early as 1687-1697 by the Russian Government, who finally monopolized the trade about 1704. Caravans fitted out by the Crown alone brought the drug to Moscow, until 1762, when the caravan-trade was for a while thrown open. It was not until this period that the export of rhubarb became considerable, although the stringent regulations, established in 1736, were still maintained. The surveillance of rhubarb was exercised at Kiachta in a special court or office called the _Brake_,[1822] under instructions from the Russian Minister of War, by an apothecary appointed for six years, the object being to remove from the rhubarb brought for inspection all inferior or spurious pieces, and to improve the selected drug by trimming, paring and boring. It was then carefully dried, and packed in chests, which were sown up in linen, and rendered impervious to wet by being pitched and then covered with hide. The drug was dispatched, but only in quantities of 1000 _puds_ (40,000 lb.), once a year by way of Lake Baikal and Irkutsk to Moscow, whence it was transmitted to St. Petersburg, to be there delivered to the Crown apothecaries and in part to be sold to druggists.

We are indebted for these accounts chiefly to Calau,[1823] an apothecary appointed to supervise the examination of rhubarb, and who resided a long time at Kiachta. An exact account of the remarkable policy of the Russian Government in relation to that drug was also given by Von Schröders[1824] in 1864.

So long as China kept all her ports closed to foreign commerce except Canton in the extreme south, a large supply of fine rhubarb found its way to Europe by way of Russia. But the unpleasant accompaniments of the Russian supervision, which was exercised with unsparing severity,[1825] and the extreme tediousness of the land-transport, made the Chinese very ready to accept an easier outlet for their goods. Accordingly we find that the opening of a number of ports in the north of China exerted a very depressing influence on the trade of Kiachta, which was augmented by the rebellion that raged in the interior of China for some years from 1852.

On these accounts Russia in 1855 removed certain restrictions on the trade, though without abandoning the Rhubarb Office. She withdrew in 1860 the custom-house to Irkutsk, and declared Kiachta a free port, while by the treaty with China of November 1860, she insisted on that country abandoning all restrictions on trade.

But the overland rhubarb trade had already been destroyed: the Chinese, tempted by the increased demand occasioned by the new trading-ports, became less careful in the collection and curing of the root, while the Russians insisted with the greatest strictness on the drug being of the accustomed quality. Hence it happened that from 1860 hardly any rhubarb was delivered at Kiachta, either for the government use or to private traders; and in 1863 the Rhubarb Office was abolished.

[1822] From the German word _Bracke_, the name applied to persons appointed for the examination of merchandize brought to the ports of the Baltic.

[1823] Gauger’s _Rep. für Pharm. und Chemie_, 1842. 452-457; _Pharm. Journ._ ii. (1843) 658.

[1824] Canstatt’s _Jahresbericht_ for 1864. i. 35-42.

[1825] Thus in 1860 the Russians compelled the Chinese to burn 6000 lb. of rhubarb, on the pretext that it was _too small_!

Thus the so-called _Russian_ or _Muscovitic_ or _Crown Rhubarb_, familiarly known in England as _Turkey Rhubarb_, a drug which for its uniformly good quality long enjoyed the highest reputation, has become a thing of the past, which can only now be found in museum collections. It began to appear in English commerce at the commencement of the last century. Alston,[1826] who lectured on botany and materia medica at Edinburgh in 1720, speaks of rhubarb as brought from Turkey and the East Indies,—“and of late, likewise from Muscovy.”

It has been shown (p. 494) that rhubarb was shipped from Syria in the 12th century. Vasco da Gama[1827] mentions it in 1497 among the exports of Alexandria. In fact, the drug was carried from the far east to Persia, whence it was brought by caravans to Aleppo, Tripoli, Alexandria, and even to Smyrna. From these Levant ports it reached Europe, and was distributed as _Turkey Rhubarb_; while that which was shipped direct from China, or by way of India, became known as _China_, _Canton_, or _East India Rhubarb_. The latter was already the more common sort in England as early as 1640.[1828]

As the rhubarb of the Levant disappeared from trade, that of Russia took not only its place but likewise its name, until the term “_Turkey Rhubarb_” came to be the accepted designation of the drug imported from Russia. This strange confusion of terms was not however prevalent on the Continent, but was chiefly limited to British trade.

The risk and expense of the enormous land-transport over almost the whole breadth of Asia, caused rhubarb in ancient times to be one of the very costly drugs. Thus at Alexandria in 1497, it was valued at twelve times the price of benzoin. In France in 1542,[1829] it was worth ten times as much as cinnamon, or more than four times the price of saffron. At Ulm in 1596,[1830] it was more costly than opium. A German price-list of the magistrate of Schweinfurt, of 1614, shows _Radix Rha Barbari_ to be six times as dear as fine myrrh, and more than twice the price of opium. An official English list[1831] giving the price of drugs in 1657, quotes opium as 6_s._ per lb., scammony 12_s._, and rhubarb 16_s._

=Production and Commerce=—The districts of the Chinese Empire which produce rhubarb extend over a vast area. They are comprised in the four northern provinces of China Proper, known as Chihli, Shansi, Shensi,[1832] and Honan; the immense north-western province of Kansuh, formerly partly included in Shensi, but now extending across the desert of Gobi and to the frontiers of Tibet; the province of Tsing-hai inhabited by Mongols, which includes the great salt lake of Koko-nor and the districts of Tangut, Sifan, and Turfan; and lastly the mountains of the western province of Szechuen. The plant is found on the pasturages of the high plateaux, growing particularly well on spots that have been enriched by encampments.

[1826] _Lectures on the Mat. Med._ i. (1770) 502.

[1827] _Roteiro da viagem de Vasco da Gama_, por A. Herculano e o Barão de Castello de Paiva, ed. 2. Lisboa, 1861. 115.—For an abstract of the “Roteiro,” see Flückiger, _Documente zur Geschichte der Pharm._ 1876. 13.

[1828] Parkinson, _Theatrum Botanicum_, 1640. 155.

[1829] Leber, _Appréciation de la fortune privée au moyen âge_, éd. 2. 1847. 308-9.

[1830] Reichard, _Beiträge zur Geschichte der Apotheken_, Ulm, 1825. 208.

[1831] _Book of the Values of Merchandize imported, according to which Excize is to be paid by the First Buyer_, Lond. 1657.

[1832] According to Consul Hughes of Hankow, San-yuan in Shensi (north of Sin-ganfu) is one of the principal marts for rhubarb.

What little we know regarding the production of rhubarb and its preparation for the market, from Catholic missionaries,[1833] is of a rather meagre and unsatisfactory character. The root is dug up at the beginning of autumn when the vegetation of the plant is on the decline, and the operation is probably continued for a few months, or in some districts for the whole winter. It is cleaned, its cortical part sliced off, and the root cut into pieces for drying. This is performed either by the aid of fire-heat, or by simple exposure to sun and air, or the pieces are first partially dried on a hot stone, and then strung on a cord and suspended until the desiccation is complete.

According to F. von Richthofen[1834] the best rhubarb is collected exclusively from plants growing wild in the high alps of western Szechuen, especially in the Bayankara range, between the sources of the Hoang-ho and the rivers Ya-lung-Kiang and Min-Kiang. This variety is chiefly known under the name Shensi rhubarb, although the inhabitants of the province of Szechuen pretend the superiority of the drug of their own country. The important places for the commodity are Sining-fu in the province of Kansu, and Kwan-hien in Szechuen. In the plain of Tshing-tu-fu, according to Richthofen, rhubarb is cultivated in fields, but its product is stated to be much inferior to that of the true plant which is said not to succeed under culture.

Rhubarb is now purchased for the European market chiefly at Hankow on the upper Yangtsze, whither it is brought from the provinces of Shensi, Kansu, and Szechuen. From Hankow it is sent down to Shanghai, and there shipped for Europe. The exports from Hankow are stated in official documents[1835] to have amounted to the following numbers of peculs (one pecul = 133⅓ lb. = 60·479 kilogrammes):

1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 2985 3425 2866 3398 3370 3859 3167

In 1877 there were exported by way of Hankow 2096 peculs from Shensi and 3385 peculs from Szechuen.—From all the Chinese ports, 5124 peculs of rhubarb were shipped in 1874.

Much smaller quantities (554 peculs in 1872, 1055 peculs in 1874) are shipped from Tientsin; and there are occasional exportations from Canton, Amoy, Foochow, and Ningpo. The imports of rhubarb into the United Kingdom in 1870 amounted to 343,306 lb., the estimated value of which was £62,716.[1836]

We have no information about the rhubarb which is stated by Bellew[1837] to grow on the hills near Kayn or Ghayn in eastern Persia (about 32½° N. lat.).

[1833] Chauveau, Vicar Apostolic of Tibet (1870), and Biet, a French missionary, both quoted by Collin in his thesis _Des Rhubarbes_, Paris, 1871. 22. 24.

[1834] _Petermann’s Geograph. Mittheilungen_, viii. (1873) 302.

[1835] _Reports on Trade at the Treaty Ports of China for 1870_; _Commercial Reports_ from Her Majesty’s Consuls in China, 1872. No. 3. p. 57, and 1874 (1875) No. 5.

[1836] _Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for 1870._ 79.

[1837] _From the Indus to the Tigris_, London, 1874. 321.

=Description=—China Rhubarb as imported into Europe[1838] consists of portions of a massive root which display considerable diversity of form, arising from the various operations of paring, slicing and trimming, to which they have been subjected. Thus some pieces are cylindrical or rather barrel-shaped, others conical, while a large proportion are plano-convex, and others again are of no regular shape. These forms are not all found in the same package, the drug being usually sorted into _round_ and _flat rhubarb_. In dimensions we find 3 to 4 inches the commonest length, though an occasional piece 6 inches long or more may be met with. The width may be stated at 2 to 3 inches. The outer surface of the root is somewhat shrivelled, often exhibiting portions of a dark bark that have not been pared away. Many pieces are pierced with a hole, in which may be found the remains of a cord used to suspend the root while drying. The drug is dusted over with a bright brownish-yellow powder, on removal of which the outer side of the root is seen to have a rusty-brown hue, or viewed with a lens to be marked by the medullary rays, which appear as an infinity of short broken lines of deep brown, traversing a white ground.

The character which most readily distinguishes the rhubarb of China is that well-developed pieces, broken transversely, display these dark lines arranged as an internal ring of _star-like spots_. Although this character is by no means obvious in every piece of Chinese rhubarb, it is of some utility from the fact that in European rhubarb, such spots are generally wholly wanting, or at most occur only sparingly and in an isolated manner.

In judging of rhubarb, great stress is laid upon the appearance of the root when broken, and the circumstance of the fractured surface presenting no symptoms of decay, discoloration, or sponginess.[1839] In good rhubarb, the interior is found to be compact, and beautifully veined with reddish-brown and white, sometimes not unmixed with iron-grey. The root when chewed tastes gritty, by reason of the crystals it contains of oxalate of calcium; but it is besides bitter, astringent and nauseous. The odour is peculiar, and except by the druggist, is mostly regarded as very disagreeable.

_Microscopic Structure_—The tissue of rhubarb is made up of a white parenchyme, brown medullary rays and a few irregularly scattered very large fibro-vascular bundles, which are devoid of ligneous cells.

On a transverse fracture of specimens, which are not too much peeled, a narrow dark cambial zone may be distinguished. In that part of the root, only the medullary rays display the usual radial arrangement, and in the interior of the root no regular structure is met with. There is no well-marked pith, but the central portion of the tissue shows a mixture of white parenchyme and brown medullary rays running in every direction. In full-grown roots, the central part is separated from the cambial zone by the band of stellate patches[1840] already mentioned.

[1838] It is now often trimmed by wholesale druggists to simulate the old Russian rhubarb.

[1839] The quality and appearance of rhubarb are far more regarded in England than on the Continent. To ensure a fine powder of brilliant hue, the drug is most carefully prepared, each root being split open, and any dark or decayed portion removed with a chisel or file, while the operator is not allowed to handle the drug except with leather gloves.

[1840] Their formation has been investigated by Schmitz, Proceedings of the “_Naturforschende Gesellschaft zu Halle_”; the author also shows that the drug is chiefly afforded by the rhizome.—An abstract of the paper will be found in Just’s _Botanischer Jahresbericht_, 1874. 461.

As to the contents of the white cells, they are loaded either with starch or tufted crystals of oxalate of calcium, the amount of the latter being especially liable to variation. Scheele, after having discovered the oxalic acid, pointed out in 1784 that the crystals under notice consist of that acid in combination with lime; he was the first to point out the true composition of those crystals which are of so wide a distribution throughout the vegetable kingdom. The medullary rays contain the substances peculiar to rhubarb, but none of them occur in a crystalline state.

=Chemical Composition=—The active constituent of the root has long been supposed to reside in the yellowish-red contents of the medullary rays. Schrader as early as 1807 prepared a _Rhubarb-Bitter_, to which he attributed the medicinal powers of the drug. Since then several substances of the same kind have been separated by various methods, and described under different names: such are the _Rhabarberstoff_ of Trommsdorff, the _Rheumin_ of Hornemann, the _Rhabarberin_ of Buchner and Herberger, the _Rhubarb-Yellow_ or _Rheïn_, and the _Rhabarbaric Acid_ of Brandes.

Schlossberger and Döpping in 1844 first recognized among the above-named substances a definite chemical body named _Chrysophan_ or _Chrysophanic Acid_,

{CH₃ } C₁₄H₅ { }O₂, {(OH)₂}

which had been found in 1843 by Rochleder and Heldt in the yellow lichen, _Parmelia parietina_. It partly forms the yellow contents of the medullary rays of rhubarb, and when isolated crystallizes in golden yellow needles or in plates. It dissolves in ether, alcohol, or benzol; though scarcely soluble in water, it is nevertheless extracted from the root to some extent by that solvent, probably by reason of some accompanying substance. Alkalis dissolve it, forming fine dark red solutions. Chrysophan, C₁₅H₁₀O₄, is a derivative of anthracene, C₁₄H₁₀, and closely allied to alizarin, C₁₄H₈O₄.

By precipitating alcoholic solutions of extract of rhubarb with ether, Schlossberger and Döpping obtained, together with chrysophan, resinous bodies which they named _Aporetin_, _Phæoretin_ and _Erythroretin_.

De la Rue and Müller (1857) extracted from rhubarb, in addition to chrysophan, an allied substance, _Emodin_, which crystallizes in orange-coloured prisms, sometimes as much as two inches long. Its constitution was subsequently found to agree with the formula

{CH₃ } C₁₄H₄ { }O₂. {(OH)₃}

Kubly (1867) has obtained from rhubarb the following constituents:—

1. _Rheo-tannic Acid_, C₂₆H₂₆O₁₄, a yellowish powder abundantly present in rhubarb, soluble in water or alcohol, not in ether. Its solutions produce blackish-green precipitates with persalts of iron, and greyish ones slowly turning blue, with protosalts of the same.

2. _Rheumic Acid_ (_Rheumsäure_), C₂₀H₁₆O₉, obtained as a reddish-brown powder, by boiling rheo-tannic acid with a dilute mineral acid, a fermentable sugar being developed at the same time. Rheumic acid exhibits nearly the same reactions as rheo-tannic acid, but is very sparingly soluble in cold water. It partly pre-exists in rhubarb.

3. Neutral _colourless_ substance, sparingly soluble in hot water, and separating from the latter in prismatic _crystals_ of the formula C₁₀H₁₂O₄; no name has yet been given to it. A “white crystalline resin” (and a dark brown crystalline resin) has been isolated in 1878 by Dragendorff.

4. _Phæoretin_, C₁₆H₁₆O₇, agreeing with the substance thus named by Schlossberger and Döpping. It is a brown powder, soluble in alcohol or in acetic acid, but not in ether, chloroform or water.

5. _Chrysophan_, described above.

According to Dragendorff (1878) _mucilaginous matters_ occur in the different varieties of rhubarb to the amount of from 11 to 17 per cent. He states them to consist of mucilage (properly so called), arabic acid, metarabic acid and pararabin, and moreover enumerates also pectose among the constituents of the drug.

Small quantities of albuminoid substances, malic acid, fat and sugar have also been met with in rhubarb. As to its mineral constituents, their amount is exceedingly variable. Two samples of good China Rhubarb dried at 100° C. and incinerated, yielded us respectively 12·9 and 13·87 per cent. of ash. Another sample, which we had particularly selected on account of its pale tint, afforded no less than 43·27 per cent. of ash. The ash consists of carbonates of calcium and potassium. English rhubarb from Banbury (portions of a large specimen) left after incineration 10·90 per cent. of ash.

From a practical point of view the chemical history of rhubarb is far from satisfactory, for we are still ignorant to what principle the drug owes its therapeutic value, or what are the pharmaceutical preparations in which the active matter may be most appropriately exhibited. Chrysophan is said to act as a purgative, but less powerfully than rhubarb itself.

=Uses=—Rhubarb is one of the commonest and most valuable purgatives; it is also taken as a stomachic and tonic.

=Substitutes=—These are found in the roots of the various species of _Rheum_ cultivated in Europe. In most countries, the cultivation of rhubarb for medicinal use has at some time been attempted. Yet in but few instances has it been persistently carried on; and though the drug produced has often been of good appearance, it has failed to gain the confidence of medical men, and to acquire much importance in the drug-market. The European rhubarb most interesting from our point of view is

_English Rhubarb_—So early as 1535, Andrew Boorde, an English Carthusian monk and practitioner of medicine, obtained seeds of rhubarb, which he sent as “_a grett tresure_” to Sir Thomas Cromwell, Secretary of State to Henry VIII.; but as he says they “_come owtt of barbary_” we must be allowed to hold their genuineness as doubtful.[1841]

In the following century, namely about the year 1608, Prosper Alpinus of Padua cultivated as the True Rhubarb a plant which is now known as _Rheum Rhaponticum_ L., a native of Southern Siberia and the regions of the Volga.[1842] From this stock, Sir Matthew Lister, physician to Charles I., procured seeds when in Italy, and gave them to Parkinson,[1843] who raised plants from them.

[1841] Boorde’s _Introduction and Dyetary_, reprinted by the Early English Text Society, 1870. 56.

[1842] Prosper Alpinus, _De Rhapontico_, Lugd. Bat. 1718.

[1843] _Theatrum Botanicum_, 1640. 157.

Collinson obtained rhubarb plants from seeds procured in Tartary, and sent to him in 1742 by Professor Siegesbeck of St. Petersburg.[1844]

About 1777 Hayward, an apothecary of Banbury in Oxfordshire, commenced the cultivation of rhubarb with plants of _Rh. Rhaponticum_, raised from seeds sent from Russia in 1762. The drug he produced was so good that the Society of Arts awarded him in 1789 a silver medal, and in 1794 a gold medal.[1845] The Society also awarded medals about the same time (1789-1793) to growers of rhubarb in Somersetshire, Yorkshire, and Middlesex, some of whom, it appears, cultivated _Rh. palmatum_. On the death of Hayward in 1811, his rhubarb plants came into the possession of Mr. P. Usher, by whose descendants, Mr. R. Usher and sons, they are still cultivated at Bodicott, a village near Banbury.

The authors of this book had the pleasure of inspecting the rhubarb fields of Messrs. Usher on Sept. 4, 1872, and of seeing the whole process of preparing the root for the market.[1846] The land under cultivation is about 17 acres, the soil being a rich friable loam. The roots are taken from the ground during the autumn up to the month of November. It is considered advantageous that they should be 6 or 7 years old, but they are seldom allowed to attain more than 3 or 4 years. The clumps of root as removed from the field to the yard, where the trimming takes place, are of huge size, weighing with the earth attached to them as much as 60 or 70 lb. They are partially cleaned, the smaller roots are cut off, and the large central portion is rapidly trimmed into a short, cylindrical mass the size of a child’s head. This latter subsequently undergoes a still further paring, and is finally sliced longitudinally; the other and less valuable roots are also pared, trimmed, and assorted according to size. The fresh roots are fleshy, easily cut, and of a beautiful deep yellow. All are dried in buildings constructed for the purpose, and heated by flues. The drying occupies several weeks. The root after drying has a shrivelled, unsightly appearance, which may be remedied by paring and filing. The finished drug has to be stored in a warm dry place.

When well prepared, Banbury rhubarb is of excellent appearance. The finest pieces, which are semi-cylindrical, are quite equal in size to the drug of China. The colour is as good, and the fractured surface exhibits pink markings not less distinct and brilliant. Even the smaller roots, which are dried as sticks, have internally a good colour, and afford a fine powder. But the odour is somewhat different from that of Chinese rhubarb; the taste is less bitter but more mucilaginous and astringent, and the root is of a more spongy, soft, and brittle texture. The structure is the same as that of the Chinese rhubarb, except that, as already stated, the star-like spots, if present, are isolated, and not arranged in a regular zone.

The drug commands but a low price, and is chiefly sold, it is said, for exportation in the state of powder. It is not easily purchased in London.

[1844] Dillwyn, _Hortus Collinsonianus_, 1843. 45.

[1845] _Trans. of Soc. of Arts_, viii. (1790) 75; xii. (1794) 225.

[1846] No use is made of the leaves.—Some further particulars are given by Holmes, _Pharm. Journal_, vii. (1877) 1017.

_French and German Rhubarb_—The cultivation of rhubarb was commenced in France in the latter half of the last century, and has been pursued with some enthusiasm in various localities. The species grown were _Rheum palmatum_ L., _Rh. undulatum_ L., _Rh. compactum_ L., and _Rh. Rhaponticum_ L. The first was thought by Guibourt[1847] to afford a root more nearly approaching than any other the rhubarb of China; but it is that which is cultivated the least readily, the central root being liable to premature decay. Both this plant and _Rh. undulatum_ were formerly cultivated by order of the Russian Government on a large scale at Kolywan and Krasnojarsk in Southern Siberia, but the culture has, we believe, been long abandoned.[1848]

As to France, it appears from inquiries we have lately made (1873), that except in the neighbourhood of Avignon and in a few other scattered localities, the cultivation has now ceased.

_Rheum Rhaponticum_ is the source of the rhubarb which is produced at Austerlitz and Auspitz in Moravia, and at Ilmitz, Kremnitz and Frauenkirchen in Hungary. Some rhubarb is also produced in Silesia from _Rh. Emodi_ Wall. (_Rh. australe_ Don.).

MYRISTICEÆ.

MYRISTICA.

_Nuclei Myristicæ_, _Semen Myristicæ_, _Nux moschata_; _Nutmeg_; F. _Muscade_, _Noix de Muscade_; G. _Muskatnuss_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Myristica fragrans_ Houttuyn (_M. moschata_ Thunb., _M. officinalis_ Linn. f.), a handsome, bushy, evergreen tree,[1849] with dark shining leaves, growing in its native islands to a height of 40 to 50 feet. It is found wild in the very small volcanic group of Banda, from Damma to Amboina, in Ceram, Bouro, Jilolo (Halmahera), the western peninsula of New Guinea, and in many of the adjacent islands, but it is not indigenous to any of the islands westward of these, or to the Philippines (Crawfurd).

The nutmeg tree has been introduced into Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra, Malacca, Bengal, the islands of Singapore and Penang, as well as Brazil and the West Indies; but it is only in a very few localities that the cultivation has been attended with success.

In its native countries the tree comes into bearing in its ninth year, and is said to continue fruitful until 60 or even 80 years old, yielding annually as many as 2000 fruits. It is diœcious, and one male tree furnishes pollen sufficient for twenty female.

=History=—It has been generally believed that neither the nutmeg nor mace was known to the ancients. C. F. Ph. von Martius[1850] however maintains that mace was alluded to in the comedies of Plautus,[1851] written about two centuries before the Christian era.

[1847] _Histoire des Drogues_, ii. (1849) 398.

[1848] Twelve chests of this rhubarb, said to be of the crop of 1793, which had been lying in the Russian Government warehouses, were offered for sale in London, Dec. 1, 1853. Samples of the drug now 80 years old are in our possession, and still sound and good.

[1849] Most beautifully figured by Blume, “Rumphia” i. (1835) tab. 55; _Myristica fatua_, ii. 59.

[1850] _Flora Brasiliensis_, fasc. 11-12. 133; also in Buchner’s _Repertorium für Pharmacie_, ix. (1860) 529-538.

[1851] _Pseudolus_, act. iii. scena 2.

The words _Macer_, _Macar_, _Machir_ or _Macir_, occurring in the writings of Scribonius Largus, Dioscorides, Galen, and Pliny are thought by Martius to refer in each instance to mace. But that the substance designated by these names was not mace, but the bark of a tree growing in Malabar, was pointed out by Acosta nearly three centuries ago, and by many subsequent writers, and, as we think, with perfect correctness.[1852]

Nutmegs and mace were imported from India at an early date by the Arabians, and thus passed into western countries. Aëtius, who was resident at the court of Constantinople about the year 540, appears to have been acquainted with the nutmeg, if that at least is intended by the term _Nuces Indicæ_, prescribed together with cloves, spikenard, costus, calamus aromaticus and snadal-wood, as an ingredient of the _Suffumigium moschatum_.[1853]

Masudi,[1854] who appears to have visited India in A.D. 916-920, pointed out that the nutmeg, like cloves, areca nut and snadal-wood, was a product of the eastern islands of the Indian Archipelago. The Arabian geographer Edrisi, who wrote in the middle of the 12th century, mentions both nutmegs and mace as articles of import into Aden;[1855] and again “_Nois mouscades_” are among the spices on which duty was levied at Acre in Palestine, _circa_ A.D. 1180.[1856] About a century later, another Arabian author, Kazwini,[1857] expressly named the Moluccas as the native country of the spices under notice.

The Sanskrit name of the nutmeg tree most commonly in use, also with Susruta, is Jātī (Dr. Rice).

One of the earliest references to the use of nutmegs in Europe occurs in a poem written about 1195, by Petrus D’Ebulo,[1858] describing the entry into Rome of the Emperor Henry VI., prior to his coronation in April 1191. On this occasion the streets were fumigated with aromatics, which are enumerated in the following line:—

“Balsama, thus, aloë, _myristica_, cynnama, nardus.”

By the end of the 12th century, both nutmegs and mace were found in Northern Europe,—even in Denmark, as may be inferred from the allusion to them in the writings of Harpestreng.[1859] In England, mace, though well known, was a very costly spice, its value between A.D. 1284 and 1377 being about 4_s._ 7_d._ per lb., while the average price of a sheep during the same period was but 1_s._ 5_d._, and of a cow 9_s._ 5_d._[1860] It was also dear in France, for in the _Compte de l’exécution_ of the will of Jeanne d’Evreux, queen of France, in 1372, six ounces of mace are appraised per ounce at 3 sols 8 deniers, equal to about 8_s._ 3_d._ of our present money.[1861]

[1852] Mérat et De Lens, _Dict. de Mat. Méd._ iv. (1832) 173.—The tree is, we think, _Ailantus malabarica_ DC., order of the Simarubeæ.

[1853] Aëtius, tetrabiblos iv. serm. 4. c. 122.—It must however be admitted that _Nux Indica_ in mediæval authors usually signifies the Coco-nut, but also sometimes _Nux vomica_ or even _Areca nut_. For

## particulars see Flückiger, _Documente zur Geschichte der Pharm._ 1876.

18.

[1854] _Les prairies d’or_, i. (1861) 341.

[1855] _Géographie_, i. (1836) 51.

[1856] In the work quoted at p. 282, note 3.

[1857] _Kosmographie_, übersetzt von Ethé, i. (1869) 227.

[1858] _Carmen de motibus siculis_, Basil., 1746. 23.—A new edition of this work, by Prof. Winkelmann, was published in 1874.

[1859] _Danske Laegebog_, quoted by Meyer, _Geschichte der Botanik_, iii. (1856) 537.

[1860] Rogers, _Hist. of Agriculture and Prices in England_, i. (1866) 361-362. 628.—It is remarkable that _nutmegs_ are not mentioned, though _mace_ is named repeatedly.

[1861] Leber, _Appréciation de la fortune privée au moyen âge_, éd. 2, 1847. 95.

The use of these spices was diffused throughout Europe long before the Portuguese in 1512 had discovered the mother plant in the isles of Banda. The Portuguese held the trade of the Spice Islands for about a century, when it was wrested from them by the Dutch, who pursued the same policy of exclusiveness that they had followed in the case of cloves and cinnamon. In order to secure their monopoly, they endeavoured to limit the trees to Banda and Amboyna, and to exterminate them elsewhere, which in fact they did at Ceram and the small neighbouring islands of Kelang and Nila. So completely was the spice trade in their hands, that the crops of sixteen years were said to be at one time in their warehouses, those of recent years being never thrown on the market. Thus the crop of 1744 was being sold in 1760, in which year an immense quantity of nutmegs and cloves was burned at Amsterdam lest the price should fall too low.[1862]

During the occupation of the Spice Islands by the English from 1796 to 1802, the culture of the nutmeg was introduced into Bencoolen and Penang,[1863] and many years afterwards into Singapore. Extensive plantations of nutmeg-trees were formed in the two islands last named, and by a laborious and costly system of cultivation were for many years highly productive.[1864] In 1860 the trees were visited by a destructive blight, which the cultivators were powerless to arrest, and which ultimately led to the ruin of the plantations, so that in 1867 there was no such thing as nutmeg cultivation either in Penang or Singapore.[1865]

Though so long valued in Europe and Asia, neither nutmegs nor mace seem to have been employed in former times as a condiment in the islands where they are indigenous.[1866]

=Collection and Preparation=—Almost the whole surface of the Banda Isles, observes Mr. Wallace,[1867] is planted with nutmeg-trees, which thrive under the shade of the lofty _Canarium commune_. The light volcanic soil, the shade, and the excessive moisture of these islands, where it rains more or less every month in the year, seem exactly to suit the nutmeg tree, which requires no manure and scarcely any attention.

In Bencoolen[1868] the trees bear all the year round, but the chief harvest takes place in the later months of the year, and a smaller one in April, May and June. The fruit as it splits is gathered by means of a hook attached to a long stick, the pericarp removed, and the mace carefully stripped off. The nuts are then taken to the drying house (a brick building), placed on frames, and exposed to the gentle heat of a smouldering fire, with arrangements for a proper circulation of air. This drying operation lasts for two months, during which time the nutmegs are turned every second or third day. At the end of this period, the kernels are found to rattle in the shell, an indication that the drying is complete. The shells are then broken with a wooden mallet, the nutmegs picked out and sorted, and finally rubbed over with dry sifted lime. In Banda the smaller and less sightly nutmegs are reserved for the preparation of the expressed oil.

[1862] Valmont de Bomare, _Dict. d’Histoire Nat._ iv. (1775) 297.—This author writes as an eye-witness of the destruction he has recorded:—“Le 10 Juin 1760, j’en ai vu à Amsterdam, près de l’Amirauté, un feu dont l’aliment étoit estimé huit millions argent de France: on devoit en brûler autant le lendemain. Les pieds des spectateurs baignoient dans l’huile essentielle de ces substances....”

[1863] How tempting the cultivation must have appeared, may be judged from the price of mace, which we find quoted on the 3rd January 1806, in the _London Price Current_ (which gives only _import prices_), as 85_s._ to 90_s._ per lb.;—to these rates must be added the duty of 7_s._ 1_d._ per lb.

[1864] Seemann, _Hooker’s Journ. of Bot._ iv. (1852) 83.

[1865] Collingwood in _Journ. of Linnean Society_, Bot., x. (1869) 45.

[1866] Crawfurd, _Dictionary of the Indian Islands_, 1856. 304.—Much additional information will be found in this work.

[1867] _The Malay Archipelago_, i. (1869) 452.—See also Bickmore, _Travels in the East Indian Archipelago_, 1868. 225.

[1868] Lumsdaine, _Pharm. Journ._ xi. (1852) 516. For further information on the management of nutmeg plantations in Sumatra, consult the original paper.

The old commercial policy of the Dutch originated the singular practice of breaking the shell, and immersing the kernel of the artificially dried seed in milk of lime,—sometimes for a period of three months. This was done with a view to render impossible the germination of any nutmegs sent into the market. The folly of such a procedure was demonstrated by Teijsmann, who proved that mere exposure to the sun for a week is sufficient to destroy the vitality of the seed. By immersion in milk of lime many nutmegs are spoiled and the necessity is incurred of a second drying. Lumsdaine has also shown that even the _dry_ liming process is, to say the least, entirely needless. Nutmegs are well preserved in their natural shell, in which state the Chinese have the good sense to prefer them.

The process of liming nutmegs is however still largely followed; and the prejudice in favour of the spice thus prepared is so strong in certain countries, that nutmegs not limed abroad have sometimes to be limed in London to fit them for exportation. Penang nutmegs are always imported in the natural state,—that is, _un-limed_.

=Description=—The fruit of _Myristica fragrans_ is a pendulous, globose drupe, about 2 inches in diameter, and not unlike a small round pear. It is marked by a furrow which passes round it, and by which at maturity its thick fleshy pericarp splits into two pieces, exhibiting in its interior a single seed, enveloped in a fleshy foliaceous mantle or arillus, of fine crimson hue, which is _mace_. The dark brown, shining, ovate seed is marked with impressions corresponding to the lobes of the arillus; and on one side, which is of paler hue and slightly flattened, a line indicating the raphe may be observed.

The bony testa does not find its way into European commerce, the so-called _nutmeg_ being merely the kernel or nucleus of the seed. Nutmegs exhibit nearly the form of their outer shell with a corresponding diminution in size. The London dealers esteem them in proportion to their size, the largest, which are about one inch long by ⁸/₁₀ of an inch broad, and four of which will weigh an ounce, fetching the highest price. If not dressed with lime, they are of a greyish brown, smooth yet coarsely furrowed and veined longitudinally, marked on the flatter side with a shallow groove. A transverse section shows that the inner seed-coat (_endopleura_) penetrates into the albumen in long narrow brown strips, reaching the centre of the seed, thereby imparting the peculiar marbled appearance familiar in a cut nutmeg.

At the base of the albumen and close to the hilum, is the embryo, formed of a short radicle with cup-shaped cotyledons, whose slit and curled edges penetrate into the albumen. The tissue of the seed can be cut with equal facility in any direction. It is extremely oily, and has a delicious aromatic fragrance, with a spicy rather acrid taste.

=Microscopic Structure=—The testa consists mainly of long, thin, radially arranged, rigid cells, which are closely interlaced and do not exhibit any distinct cavities. The endopleura which forms the adhering coat of the kernel and penetrates into it, consists of soft-walled, red-brown tissue, with small scattered bundles of vessels. In the outer layers the endopleura exhibits small collapsed cells; but the tissue which fills the folds that dip into the interior consists of much larger cells. The tissue of the albumen is formed of soft-walled parenchyme, which is densely filled with conspicuous starch-grains, and with fat, partly crystallized. Among the prismatic crystals of fat, large thick rhombic or six-sided tables may often be observed. With these are associated grains of albuminoid matter, partly crystallized.

=Chemical Composition=—After starch and albuminoid matter, the principal constituent of nutmeg is the _fat_, which makes up about a fourth of its weight, and is known in commerce by the incorrect name of _Oil of Mace_ (see p. 507).

The volatile oil, to which the smell and taste of nutmegs are chiefly due, amounts to between 3 and 8 per cent.,[1869] and consists, according to Cloëz (1864), almost entirely of a hydrocarbon, C₁₀H₁₆, boiling at 165° C., which Gladstone (1872), who assigns it the same composition, calls _Myristicene_. The latter chemist found in the crude oil an oxygenated oil, _Myristicol_, of very difficult purification and possibly subject to change during the process of rectifying. It has a high boiling point (about 220° C.?) and the characteristic odour of nutmeg; unlike carvol with which it is isomeric, it does not form a crystalline compound with hydrosulphuric acid.

Oil of nutmegs, distilled in London by Messrs. Herrings and Co., examined in column 200 mm. long, we found to deviate the ray of polarized light, 15°·3 to the right; that of the Long Nutmeg (_Myristica fatua_ Houtt.), furnished to us by the same firm, deviated 28°·7 to the right.

From the facts recorded by Gmelin,[1870] it would appear that oil of nutmeg sometimes deposits a stearoptene called _Myristicin_. We are not acquainted with such a deposit; yet we have been kindly furnished by Messrs. Herrings with a crystalline substance which they obtained during the latter part of the process of distilling both common and long nutmegs. It is a greyish greasy mass, which by repeated crystallizations from spirit of wine, we obtained in the form of brilliant, colourless scales, fusible at 54° C., and still possessing the odour of nutmeg. The crystals are readily soluble in benzol, bisulphide of carbon or chloroform, sparingly in petroleum ether; their solution in spirit of wine has a decidedly acid reaction, and is devoid of rotatory power. By boiling them with alcohol, sp. gr. 0·843, and anhydrous carbonate of sodium, we obtained a solution which, after removal of the alcohol, left a residuum perfectly soluble in boiling water, forming a jelly on cooling. By adding hydrochloric acid to the warm aqueous solution, the original crystallizable substance again made its appearance, yet almost devoid of odour. It is in fact nothing else than _Myristic Acid_ (see page 508).[1871]

[1869] Messrs. Herrings & Co. of London have informed us, that 2874 lb. of nutmegs distilled in their laboratory afforded 67 lb. of essential oil, _i.e._ 2·33 per cent. But Messrs. Schimmel & Co., Leipzig, state (1878) that they obtain as much as from 6 to 8 per cent.

[1870] _Chemistry_, xiv. (1860) 389.

[1871] _Yearbook of Pharmacy_, 1874, 490.

=Production and Commerce=—The nutmegs and mace now brought into the market are to a large extent the produce of the Banda Islands,[1872] of which however only three, namely Lontar or the Great Banda, Pulo Ai, and Pulo Nera, have what are termed _Nutmeg Parks_. According to official statements of the Dutch, the first-named island possessed in 1864 about 266,000 fruit-bearing trees; Ternate on the western coast of Jilolo, 46,000; Menado in the island of Celebes, 35,000; and Amboyna, only 31,000. The nutmegs of the Banda Islands are shipped to Batavia. The quantity exported from Java in 1871 (all, we believe, from Batavia, and therefore the produce of the Banda Islands) is stated as 8107 peculs (1,080,933 lb.), of which 2300 peculs (306,666 lb.) were shipped to the United States, and a rather large quantity to Singapore.[1873] The last named port also shipped in the same year a very large quantity (310,576 lb.) of nutmegs to North America,[1874] and in 1877 the total export of nutmegs and mace from Singapore was 5323 peculs (709,733 lb.).

[1872] Some idea of the extremely small area of these famous islands may be gathered from the fact that the Great Banda, the largest of them, is but about 7 miles long by 2 miles broad; while the entire group occupies no more than 17·6 geographical square miles.

[1873] _Consular Reports_, Aug. 1873. 952-3. In 1875, 8990 peculs were exported from Java.

[1874] _Blue Books for the Colony of the Straits Settlements for 1871_, Singapore, 1872.

Nutmegs were exported from Padang in Sumatra in the year 1871, to the extent of 2766 peculs (368,800 lb.), chiefly to America and Singapore. The quantity annually imported into the United Kingdom ranges from 500,000 to 800,000 lb.

=Uses=—Nutmeg is a grateful aromatic stimulant, chiefly employed for flavouring other medicines. It is also in constant use as a condiment, though less appreciated than formerly.

Oleum Myristicæ expressum.

_Oleum Macidis_, _Balsamum vel Oleum Nucistæ_; _Expressed Oil of Nutmegs_, _Nutmeg Butter_, _Oil of Mace_; F. _Beurre de Muscade_; G. _Muskatbutter_, _Muskatnussöl_.

This article reaches England chiefly from Singapore, in oblong, rectangular blocks, about 10 inches long by 2½ inches square, enveloped in a wrapper of palm leaves. It is a solid unctuous substance of an orange-brown colour, varying in intensity of shade, and presenting a mottled aspect. It has a very agreeable odour and a fatty aromatic taste.

In operating on 2 lb. of nutmegs, first powdered and heated in a water-bath and pressed while still hot, we obtained 9 ounces of solid oil, equivalent to 28 per cent. This oil, which in colour, odour and consistence does not differ from that which is imported, melts at about 45° C.; and dissolves perfectly in two parts of warm ether or in four of warm alcohol sp. gr. ·800.

Nutmeg butter contains the volatile oil already described, to the extent of about six per cent., besides several fatty bodies. One of the latter, termed _Myristin_ C₃H₅(O·C₁₄H₂₇O)₃, may be obtained by means of benzol, or by dissolving in ether that part of the butter of nutmeg which is insoluble in cold spirit of wine. The crystals of myristin melt at 31° C. By saponification they furnish glycerin, and _Myristic Acid_, C₁₄H₂₈O₂, the latter fusing at 53°·8 C. Playfair in 1841 was the first to isolate (in Liebig’s laboratory at Giessen) myristic acid. Myristin also occurs in spermaceti, coco-nuts, as well as, according to Mulder, in small quantity, in the fixed oils of linseed and poppy seed. Nutmegs according to Comar (1859) yield 10 to 12 per cent. of myristin.

That part of nutmeg butter, which is more readily soluble in spirit of wine or benzol, contains another fat, which however has not yet been investigated. It is accompanied by a reddish colouring matter.

MACIS.

_Mace_; F. _Macis_; G. _Macis_, _Muskatblüthe_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Myristica fragrans_ Houttuyn (see p. 502). The seed which, deprived of its hard outer shell or testa, is known as the _nutmeg_, is enclosed when fresh in a fleshy net-like envelope, somewhat resembling the husk of a filbert. This organ, which is united, though not very closely, at the base of the stony shell both with the hilum and the contiguous portion of the raphe, of which parts it is an expansion, is termed _arillus_,[1875] and when separated and dried constitutes the mace of the shops. In the fresh state it is fleshy, and of a beautiful crimson; it envelopes the seed completely only at the base, afterwards dividing itself into broad flat lobes; which branch into narrower strips overlapping one another towards the summit.

[1875] On the nature and origin of this organ, see Baillon, _Histoire des Plantes_, ii. (1870) 499; also _Dictionnaire de Botanique_.

=History=—Included in that of the nutmeg (see preceding article).

=Description=—The mace, separated from the seed by hand, is dried in the sun, thereby losing its brilliant red hue and acquiring an orange-brown colour. It has a dull fatty lustre, exudes oil when pressed with the nail, and is horny, brittle, and translucent. Steeped in water it swells rather considerably. The entire arillus, compressed and crumpled by packing, is about 1¾ inches long with a general thickness of about ¹/₂₀ of an inch or even at ⅒ the base. Mace has an agreeable aromatic smell nearly resembling that of nutmeg, and a pungent, spicy, rather acrid taste.

=Microscopic Structure=—The uniform, small-celled, angular parenchyme is interrupted by numerous brown oil-cells of larger size. The inner part of the tissue contains also thin brown vascular bundles. The cells of the epidermis on either side are colourless, thick-walled, longitudinally extended, and covered with a peculiar cuticle of broad, flat, riband-like cells, which cannot however be removed as a continuous film. The parenchyme is loaded with small granules, to which a red colour is imparted by Millon’s test (solution of mercurous nitrate) and an orange hue by iodine. The granules consequently consist of albuminous matter, and starch is altogether wanting.

=Chemical Composition=—The nature of the chemical constituents of mace may be inferred from the following experiments performed by one of us:—17 grammes of finely powdered mace were entirely exhausted by boiling ether, and the latter allowed to evaporate. It left behind 5·57 grm., which after drying at 100° C. were diminished to 4·17. The difference, 1·40 grammes, answers to the amount of _essential oil_, of which consequently 8·2 per cent. had been present.

The residue, amounting to 24·5 per cent., was a thickish aromatic _balsam_, in which we have not been able to ascertain the presence of _fat_; it consisted of resin and semi-resinified essential oil. Alcohol further removed 1·4 per cent. of an uncrystallizable sugar, which reduced cupric oxide.

The drug having been thus treated with ether and with alcohol, yielded almost nothing to cold water, but by means of boiling water 1·8 per cent. of a mucilage was obtained, which turned blue by addition of iodine, or reddish violet if previously dried. This substance is not soluble in an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide; it appears rather to be an intermediate body between mucilage and starch.[1876] The composition of mace is therefore very different from that of nutmeg.

As to the _volatile oil_, of which several observers have obtained from 7 to 9 per cent.,[1877] it is a fragrant colourless liquid which we found, when examined in a column 200 mm. long, deviated the ray 18°·8 to the right. Its greater portion consists according to Schacht (1862) of _Macene_, C₁₀H₁₆, boiling at 160° C., and distinguished from oil of turpentine by not forming a crystalline hydrate when mixed with alcohol and nitric acid. Koller (1865) states that macene is identical with the hydrocarbon of oil of nutmeg (myristicene), yet the latter is said by Cloëz to yield no solid compound when treated with hydrochloric gas. Macene on the other hand furnishes crystals of C₁₀H₁₆·HCl. Crude oil of mace contains, like that of nutmeg, an oxygenated oil, the properties of which have not yet been investigated.

=Commerce=—Mace, mostly the produce as it would appear of the Banda Islands, was shipped from Java in 1871 to the extent of 2101 peculs (282,133 lb.); and from Padang in Sumatra (excluding shipments to Java) to the amount of 457 peculs (60,933 lb.).[1878] The spice is exported principally to Holland, Singapore, and the United States; Great Britain receives about 60,000 to 80,000 lb. annually.

=Uses=—Mace is but rarely employed in medicine. It is chiefly consumed as a condiment.

[1876] See my paper: _Ueber Stärke und Cellulose in Archiv der Pharm._ 196 (1871) 31.—F. A. F.

[1877] In an actual experiment (1868) in the laboratory of Messrs. Herrings & Co., London, 23 lb. of mace yielded 23 oz. of volatile oil, which is equivalent to 6¼ per cent.; but Messrs. Schimmel & Co., Leipzig, obligingly inform us (1878) that they observed a percentage of from 11 to 17.

[1878] _Consular Reports_, August 1873. 952-3.

LAURACEÆ.

CAMPHORA.

_Camphor_,[1879] _Common Camphor_, _Laurel Camphor_; F. _Camphre_; G. _Campher_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Cinnamomum Camphora_ Fr. Nees et Ebermaier (_Laurus Camphora_ L., _Camphora officinarum_ C. Bauh.), the Camphor tree or Camphor Laurel is widely diffused, being found throughout Central China and in the Japanese Islands. In China it abounds principally in the eastern and central provinces, as in Chekiang, Fokien and Kiangsi; but it is wanting, according to Garnier (1868), in Yünnan and Szechuen. It is plentiful, on the other hand, in the island of Formosa, where it covers the whole line of mountains from north to south, up to an elevation of 2000 feet above the level of the sea. It flourishes in tropical and subtropical countries, and forms a large and handsome tree in sheltered spots in Italy as far north as the Lago Maggiore. The leaves are small, shining, and glaucous beneath, and have long petioles; the stem affords excellent timber, much prized on account of its odour for making clothes’ chests and drawers of cabinets.

_Dryobalanops aromatica_, the camphor tree of Borneo and Sumatra, yields a peculiar camphor, which we shall describe further on.

=History=—The two kinds of Camphor afforded by the two trees just named have always been regarded by the Chinese as perfectly distinct substances, and in considering the history of camphor this fact must be borne in mind.

On perusing the accounts of Laurel Camphor given by Chinese writers,[1880] the remarkable fact becomes apparent, that although the tree was evidently well known in the 6th century, and probably even earlier, and is specially noticed on account of its valuable timber, no mention is made in connexion with it of any such substance as _camphor_.

Le-she-chin, the author of the celebrated herbal _Pun-tsao-kang-muh_, written in the middle of the 16th century, was well acquainted with the two sorts of camphor,—the one produced by the camphor laurel of his own country, the other imported from the Malay islands; and he narrates how the former was prepared by boiling the wood, and refined by repeated dry sublimations.

Marco Polo, towards the end of the 13th century, saw the forests of Fokien in South-eastern China, in which, says he, are many of the trees which give camphor.[1881] It would thus appear that Laurel Camphor was known as early as the time of Marco Polo, yet it is certain that the more ancient notices which we shall now quote have reference to the much valued Malay Camphor, which remains up to the present day one of the most precious substances of its class.

[1879] The word _Camphor_, generally written by old Latin authors _Caphura_, and by English _Camphire_, is derived from the Arabic _Káfúr_, which in turn is supposed to come from the Sanskrit _Karpūra_, signifying _white_.

[1880] Passages from several have been translated and kindly placed at our disposal by Mr. A. Wylie. Dr. Bretschneider of Pekin and Mr. Pauthier of Paris (see p. 494, note 7,) have also been good enough to aid us in the same manner.

[1881] Yule, _Book of Ser Marco Polo_, ii. (1871) 185.

There is no evidence that camphor reached Europe during the classical period of Greece and Rome. The first mention of it known to us occurs in one of the most ancient monuments of the Arabic language, the poems of Imru-l-Kais,[1882] a prince of the Kindah dynasty, who lived in Hadramaut in the beginning of the 6th century. Nearly at the same period, Aëtius of Amida (the modern Diarbekir) used camphor medicinally, but from the manner in which he speaks of it, it was evidently a substance of some rarity.[1883]

In fact, for many centuries subsequent to this period, camphor was regarded as one of the most rare and precious of perfumes. Thus, it is mentioned in A.D. 636, with musk, ambergris, and snadal-wood, among the treasures of Chosroes II., of the Sassanian dynasty of kings of Persia, in the palace at Madain on the Tigris, north of Babylon.[1884]

Among the immense mass of valuables dispersed at Cairo on the downfall of the Fatimite Khalif Mostanser in the 11th century, the Arabian historians[1885] enumerate with astonishment, besides vast quantities of musk, aloes wood, snadal-wood, amber, large stores of _Camphor of Kaisur_, and hundreds of figures of _melons in camphor_, adorned with gold and jewels, which were contained in precious vessels of gold and porcelain. One grain (crystal?) of camphor is mentioned as weighing 5 mithkals, one melon of the weight of 70 mithkals, was contained in a golden box weighing no less than 3,000 mithkals (1 mithkal = 71·49 gr. Troy = 4·63 grammes). It is also on record that about A.D. 642, Indian princes sent camphor as tribute or a gift to the Chinese Emperors;[1886]—further, that in the Teenpaou period (A.D. 742-755), the Cochinchinese brought to the Chinese court a tribute of Barus camphor, said by the envoy to be found in the trunks of old trees, the like of which for fragrance was never seen again.[1887] Masudi,[1888] four centuries later, mentions a similar present from an Indian to a Chinese potentate, when 1,000 _menn_[1889] of aloes-wood were accompanied by 10 _menn_ of camphor, the choice quality of the latter being indicated by the remark that it was in pieces as large or larger than a pistachio-nut.

Again, between A.D. 1342 and 1352, an embassy left Pekin bearing a letter from the Great Khan to Pope Benedict XII., accompanied by presents of silk, precious stones, _camphor_, musk, and spices.[1890]

Ibn Batuta, the celebrated traveller, relates that after having visited the King of Sumatra, he was presented on leaving (a.d. 1347) with aloes-wood, _camphor_, cloves, and sandal-wood, besides provisions.

[1882] In the description of Arabia by Ibn Hagik el Hamdany, fol. 170 of the MS. at Aden (Prof. Sprenger).

[1883] He directs two ounces of camphor to be added to a certain preparation, provided camphor is sufficiently abundant.—Tetr. iv. sermo 4. c. 114

[1884] G. Weil, _Geschichte der Chalifen_, i. (Mannheim, 1846) 75.

[1885] Quatremère, _Mém. sur l’Egypte_, ii. (1811) 366-375.—It is interesting to find that _Káfúre-kaisúri_, i.e., _Kaisur Camphor_, is a term still known in the Indian bazaars.

[1886] Käuffer, _Geschichte von Ostasien_, ii. (1859) 491.

[1887] Translation from the Chinese communicated by Mr. A. Wylie.

[1888] _Les Prairies d’or_, i. (Paris, 1861) 200.

[1889] The Arabian _menâ_ or _menn_ is equal to 2⅕ pounds Troy, or 933 grammes.

[1890] Yule, _Cathay and the way thither_, ii. 357.

Ishâk ibn Amrân, an Arabian physician living towards the end of the 9th century, and Ibn Khurdádbah, a geographer of the same period, were among the first to point out that camphor is an export of the Malayan Archipelago; and their statements are repeated by the Arabian writers of the middle ages, who all assert that the best camphor is produced in Fansúr. This place, also called Kansúr or Kaisúr, was visited in the 13th century by Marco Polo, who speaks of its camphor as selling for its weight in gold; Yule[1891] believes it to be the same spot as Barus, a town on the western coast of Sumatra, still giving a name to the camphor produced in that island.

From all these facts and many others that might be adduced,[1892] it undoubtedly follows that the camphor first in use was that found native in the trunk of the Sumatran _Dryobalanops aromatica_, and not that of the Camphor Laurel. At what period and at whose instigation the Chinese began to manufacture camphor from the latter tree is not known.

Camphor was known in Europe as a medicine as early as the 12th century, as is evident from the mention of it by the abbess Hildegard[1893] (who calls it _ganphora_), Otho of Cremona,[1894] and the Danish canon Harpestreng (_ob._ A.D. 1244).

Garcia de Orta states (1563) that it is the camphor of China which alone is exported to Europe, that of Borneo and Sumatra being a hundred times more costly, and all consumed by eastern nations. They partly devoted the latter to ritual purposes, as for instance embalming,

## partly to “eating,” _i.e._ for the preparation of the betel-leaves for

chewing. Neuhof[1895] states that the other ingredients used in China for that purpose are: Areca nuts (see article Semen Arecæ) and lime or Lycium (see page 35), _Caphur de Burneo_, aloë (_i.e._ Aloë-wood, see Aloë), and musk. Kämpfer,[1896] who resided in Japan in 1690-92, and who figured the Japanese camphor tree under the name _Laurus camphorifera_, expressly declares the latter to be entirely different from the camphor tree of the Indian Archipelago. He further states that the camphor of Borneo was among the more profitable commodities imported into Japan by the Dutch, whose homeward cargoes included Japanese camphor to the extent of 6,000 to 12,000 lb. annually.[1897] This camphor was refined in Holland by a process long kept secret, and was then introduced into the market. In Pomet’s time (1694 and earlier), crude camphor was common in France, but it had to be sent to Holland for purification.

It is doubtful whether at that period, or even much later, any camphor was obtained from Formosa. Du Halde[1898] makes no allusion to it as a production of that island; nor does he mention it among the commodities of Emouy (Amoy), which was the Chinese port then in most active communication with Formosa.

[1891] _The Book of Ser Marco Polo_, ii. (1874) 282, 285.

[1892] For further historical details, compare my paper in the _Schweizerische Wochenschrift für Pharmacie_, 27 Sept., 4 and 11 Oct. 1867, or in Buchner’s _Repertorium f. Pharmacie_, xvii. (1868) 28.—F. A. F.

[1893] S. Hildegardis _Opera Omnia_, accurante J. P. Migne, Paris, 1855. 1145.

[1894] Choulant, _Macer Floridus_, Lips. 1832. 161.

[1895] _Gesantschaft, etc._ Amsterdam, 1666. 363.

[1896] _Amœnitates exoticæ_ (1712) 770.

[1897] _Hist. of Japan_, translated by Scheuchzer, i. (1727) 353. 370.

[1898] _Description de la Chine_, i. (1735) 161.

=Production=—The camphor of European commerce is produced in the island of Formosa and in Japan. We have no evidence that any is manufactured at the present day in China, although very large trees, often from 8 to 9 feet in diameter, are common, for instance in Kiangsi, and camphor wood is an important timber of the Hankow market.

In Formosa, the camphor-producing districts lie in the narrow belt of debateable ground, which separates the border Chinese settlements from the territory still occupied by the aboriginal tribes. The camphor is prepared from the wood, which is cut into small chips from the trees, by means of a gouge with a long handle. In this process there is great waste, many trees being cut and then left with a large portion of valuable timber to perish. The next operation is to expose the wood to the vapour of boiling water, and to collect the camphor which volatilizes with the steam. For this purpose, stills are constructed thus:—a long wooden trough, frequently a hollowed trunk, is fixed over a furnace and protected by a coating of clay. Water is poured into it, and a board perforated with numerous small holes is luted over it. Above these holes the chips are placed and covered with earthen pots. A fire having been lighted in the furnace, the water becomes heated, and the steam passing through the chips, carries with it the camphor, which condenses in minute white crystals in the upper part of the pots. From these it is scraped out every few days, and is then very pure and clean. Four stills, each having ten pots placed in a row over one trough, are generally arranged under one shed. These stills are moved from time to time, according as the gradual exhaustion of timber in the locality renders such transfer desirable. A considerable quantity of camphor is however manufactured in the towns, the chips being conveyed thither from the country. A model of a much better still, which was contributed from Formosa to the Paris Exhibition in 1878, is perhaps referring to a town manufacture.

Camphor is brought from the interior to Tamsui, the chief port of Formosa, the baskets holding about half a pecul each (1 pecul = 133⅓ lbs.), lined and covered with large leaves. Upon arrival, it is stored in vats holding from 50 to 60 peculs each, or it is packed at once in the tubs, or lead-lined boxes, in which it is exported. From the vats or tubs there drains out a yellowish essential oil known as _Camphor Oil_, which is used by the Chinese in rheumatism.[1899] In 1877 hydraulic pressure has been established for the separation of the oil and moisture; the raw camphor loses about 20 per cent. of these admixtures.

Kämpfer in his account[1900] of the manufacture of camphor in the Japanese province of Satzuma and in the islands of Gotho, describes the boiling of the chips in an iron pot covered with an earthen head containing straw in which the camphor collects. In the province of Tosa, island of Sikok, there is now a still in use, which is quite conveniently combined with a cooling apparatus consisting of a wooden trough, over which cold water is flowing.[1901]

[1899] The foregoing particulars are chiefly extracted from the _Trade Report of Tamsui_ by E. C. Taintor, Acting Commissioner of Customs, published in the _Reports on Trade at the Treaty Ports in China_ for 1869, Shanghai, 1870, and from James Morrison’s _Description of the island of Formosa_, in the _Geogr. Magazine_, 1877, 263 and 319.

[1900] _op. cit._ p. 772.

[1901] Both of the above mentioned stills from Sikok and Formosa are figured in my “_Account of the Paris Exhibition_,” _Archiv der Pharmacie_, 214 (1879) 12.—F. A. F..

=Purification=—Camphor as it is exported from Japan and Formosa requires to be purified by sublimation. The crude drug consists of small crystalline grains, which cohere into irregular friable masses, of a greyish-white or pinkish hue. Dissolved in spirit of wine, it leaves from 2 to 10 per cent. of impurities consisting of gypsum, common salt, sulphur, or vegetable fragments.

In Europe, crude camphor is sublimed from a little charcoal or sand, iron filings or quicklime, and sent into the market as _Refined Camphor_ in the form of large bowls or concave cakes, about 10 inches in diameter, 3 inches in thickness, and weighing from 9 to 12 lb.[1902] Each bowl has a large round hole at the bottom, corresponding to the aperture of the vessel in which the sublimation has been conducted. This operation is performed in peculiar glass flasks termed _bomboloes_, in the upper half of which the pure camphor concretes. These flasks having been charged and placed in a sand-bath, are rapidly heated to about 120°-190° C. in order to remove the water. Afterwards the temperature is slowly increased to about 204° C., and maintained during 24 hours. The flasks are finally broken.

As camphor is a neutral substance, the addition of lime probably serves merely to retain traces of resin or empyreumatic oil. Iron would keep back sulphur were any present.

In the United States the refiners use iron vessels; their product is in flat disks, about 16 inches in diameter by one inch in thickness.

The refining of camphor is carried on to a large extent in England, Holland, Hamburg, Paris, Bohemia (Aussig), in New York and Philadelphia. It is a process requiring great care on account of the inflammability of the product. The temperature must also be nicely regulated, so that the sublimate may be deposited not merely in loose crystals, but in compact cakes. In India where the consumption of camphor is very large, the natives effect the sublimation in a copper vessel, the charge of which is 1½ maunds (42 lb.): fire is applied to the lower part, the upper being kept cool.[1903]

=Description=—Purified Camphor forms a colourless crystalline, translucent mass, traversed by numerous fissures, so that notwithstanding a certain toughness, a mass can readily be broken by repeated blows. By spontaneous and extremely slow evaporation at ordinary temperatures, camphor sublimes in lustrous hexagonal plates or prisms, having but little hardness. If triturated in a mortar, camphor adheres to the pestle, so that it cannot be powdered _per se_. But if moistened with spirit of wine, ether, chloroform, methylic alcohol, glycerin, or an essential or fatty oil, pulverization is effected without difficulty. By keeping a short time, the powder acquires a crystalline form. With an equal weight of sugar, camphor may also be easily powdered.

Camphor melts at 175° C., boils at 204°, and volatilizes somewhat rapidly even at ordinary temperatures. To this latter property, combined with slight solubility, must be attributed the curious rotatory motion which small lumps of camphor (as well as barium butyrate, stannic bromide, chloral hydrate, and a few other substances) exhibit when thrown on to water.

[1902] These are the dimensions of the cakes manufactured in the laboratory of Messrs. Howards of Stratford, but it is obvious that they may vary with different makers.

[1903] Mattheson, _England to Delhi_, Lond. 1870, 474.

The solubility of camphor in water is very small, 1300 parts dissolving about one; but even this small quantity is partially separated on addition of some alkaline or earthy salt, as sulphate of magnesium. Alcohols, ethers, chloroform, carbon bisulphide, volatile and fixed oils and liquid hydrocarbons, dissolve camphor abundantly.

The sp. gr. of camphor at 0° C. and up to 6° is the same as that of water; yet at a somewhat higher temperature, camphor expands more quickly, so that at 10° to 12° C. its sp. gr. is only 0·992.

In concentrated solution or in a state of fusion, camphor turns the plane of polarization strongly to the right. Officinal solution of camphor (_Spiritus Camphoræ_) is too weak, and does not deviate the ray of light to a considerable amount.[1904] Crystals of camphor are devoid of rotatory power.

The taste and odour of camphor are _sui generis_, or at least are common only to a group of nearly allied substances. Camphor is not altered by exposure to air or light. It burns easily, affording a brilliant smoky flame.

=Chemical Composition=—Camphor, C₁₀H₁₆O, by treatment with various reagents, yields a number of interesting products: thus when repeatedly distilled with chloride of zinc or anhydrous phosphoric acid, it is converted into _Cymene_ or _Cymol_, C₁₀H₁₄, a body contained in many essential oils, or obtainable therefrom.

Camphor, and also camphor oil, when subjected to powerful oxidizing agents, absorbs oxygen, passing gradually into crystallized _Camphoric Acid_, C₁₀H₁₆O₄ or C₈H₁₄(COOH)₂, water and carbonic acid being at the same time eliminated. Many essential oils, resins and gum-resins likewise yield these acids when similarly treated.

By means of less energetic oxidizers, camphor may be converted into _Oxy-Camphor_, C₁₀H₁₆O₂, still retaining its original odour and taste (Wheeler, 1868).

=Commerce=—Two kinds of crude camphor are known in the English market, namely:

1. _Formosa_ or _China Camphor_, imported in chests lined with lead or tinned iron, and weighing about 1 cwt. each; it is of a light brown, small in grain, and always wet, as the merchants cause water to be poured into the cases before shipment, with a view, it is pretended, of lessening the loss by evaporation. The exports of this camphor from Tamsui in Formosa[1905] were in peculs (one pecul = 13·33 lb. avdp. = 60·479 kilogrammes) as follows:

1870 1871 1872 1875 1876 1877 14,481 9691 10,281 7139 8794 13,178

The shipments of camphor from Takow, the other open port of Formosa, are of insignificant amount. Planks of camphor wood are now exported in some quantity from Tamsui.

2. _Japan Camphor_ is lighter in colour and occasionally of a pinkish tint; it is also in larger grains. It arrives in double tubs (one within the other) without metal lining, and hence is drier than the previous sort; the tubs hold about 1 cwt. It fetches a somewhat higher price than the Formosa camphor.

[1904] _Pharm. Journ._ 18 April 1874. 830.

[1905] _Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for 1872_, part. 2, p. 124.

Hiogo and Osaka exported in 1871, 7089 peculs (945,200 lb.), and Nagasaki 745 peculs (99,333 lb.), the total value being 116,718 dollars.[1906] In 1877 the value of camphor exported from Japan was stated to be equal to 240,000 dollars. The imports of _Unrefined Camphor_ into the United Kingdom amounted in 1870 to 12,368 cwt. (1,385,216 lb.); of _Refined Camphor_ in the same year to 2361 cwt.[1907]

Camphor is largely consumed by the natives of India; the quantity of the crude drug imported into Bombay in the year 1872-73 was 3801 cwt.[1908]

=Uses=—Camphor has stimulant properties and is frequently used in medicine both internally and externally. It is largely consumed in India.

Other kinds of Camphor; Camphor Oils.

Camphor, as stated above at page 512, was the name originally applied to the product of Dryobalanops; it was then also given to that of Camphor Laurel, and in 1725 Caspar Neumann, of Berlin, first pointed out that many essential oils afford crystals (“stearoptenes” of later chemists), for which he proposed the general name of camphor. Many of them are agreeing with the formula C₁₀H₁₆O, and there are also numerous liquids of the same composition. It would appear, however, that no stearoptene of any other plant is absolutely identical with common camphor; Lallemand’s statement (see p. 479), that oil of spike affords the latter, requires further examination.

Many other liquid and solid constituents of essential oils, or substances afforded by treating them with alcoholic potash, answer to the formula C₁₀H₁₇(OH). Among them we may point out the two following: they are the only substances of the class of “camphors,” besides common camphor, which are of some practical importance.

_Barus Camphor, Borneo Camphor, Malayan Camphor, Dryobalanops Camphor_—This, as already explained, is the substance to which the earliest notices of camphor refer. The tree which affords it is _Dryobalanops aromatica_ Gärtn. (_D. Camphora_ Colebrooke), of the order _Dipterocarpeæ_, one of the most majestic objects of the vegetable kingdom.[1909] The trunk is very tall, round, and straight, furnished near the base with huge buttresses; it rises 100 to 150 feet without a branch, then producing a dense crown of shining foliage, 50 to 70 feet in diameter, on which are scattered beautiful white flowers of delicious fragrance. The tree is indigenous to the Dutch Residencies on the north-west coast of Sumatra, between 0° and 3° N. lat., from Ayer Bangis to Barus and Singkel, and to the northern part of Borneo, and the small British island of Labuan.

[1906] _Commercial Reports from H. M. Consuls in Japan_, No. 1, 1872.—The returns for Hiogo and Osaka are upon the authority of the Chamber of Commerce.

[1907] _Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom_ for 1870. p. 61—no later returns accessible.

[1908] _Statement of the Trade and Navigation of Bombay for 1872-73._ ii. 27.

[1909] For a full account and figure of it, see W. H. de Vriese’s excellent _Mémoire sur le Camphrier de Sumatra et de Bornéo_, Leide, 1857. 23 p. 4°. and 2 plates.

The camphor is obtained from the trunk, in longitudinal fissures of which it is found in a solid crystalline state, and extracted by laboriously splitting the wood. It can only be got by the destruction of the entire tree;—in fact, many trees afford none, so that to avoid the toil of useless felling, it is now customary to try them by cutting a hole in the side of the trunk, but the observation so made is often fallacious. Spenser St. John, British Consul in Borneo, was told that trees in a state of decay often contain the finest camphor.[1910] The camphor when collected is carefully picked over, washed and cleaned, and then separated into three qualities, the best being formed of the largest and purest crystals, while the lowest is greyish and pulverulent.

Dryobalanops attaining more than 150 feet in height, the quantity of camphor which it yields must necessarily be greatly variable. The statements are from about 3 to 11 lb.

A good proportion of the small quantity produced is consumed in the funeral rites of the Batta princes, whose families are often ruined by the lavish expense of providing the camphor and buffaloes which the custom of their obsequies requires. The camphor which is exported is eagerly bought for the China market, but some is also sent to Japan, Laos, Cochin China, Cambodia, and Siam.

The quantity annually shipped from Borneo was reckoned by Motley in 1851 to be about 7 peculs (933 lbs.). The export from Sumatra was estimated by De Vriese at 10 to 15 quintals per annum.[1911] The quantity imported into Canton in 1872 was returned as 23⁷/₁₀ peculs (3,159 lb.), value 42,326 taels, equivalent to about 80_s._ per lb.[1912] In the _Annual Statement of the Trade of Bombay_ for the year 1872-3, 2 cwt. of _Malayan Camphor_ is stated to have been imported; it was valued at 9,141 Rs. (£914). In the “Indian tariff,” 1875, the duty is fixed _per cwt._ at 40 rupees for crude camphor, 65 rupees for refined camphor, and 80 rupees _per pound_ for Baros camphor (“Bhemsaini camphor”). The price in Borneo in 1851 of camphor of fine quality was 30 dollars per catty, or about 95_s._ per lb.: consequently the drug never finds its way into European commerce.

[1910] _Life in the Forests of the Far East_, ii. (1862) 272.

[1911] In Milburn’s time (_Oriental Commerce_, ii. 1813. 308), Sumatra was reckoned to export 50 peculs, and Borneo 30 peculs a year. Rondot’s statement (see Cassia Buds) that China imports of Barus camphor about 800 peculs annually is plainly erroneous.

[1912] _Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for 1872_, p. 30.

Borneo Camphor, also termed by chemists _Borneol_ or _Camphyl Alcohol_, is somewhat harder than common camphor, also a little heavier so that it sinks in water. It is less volatile, and does not crystallize on the interior of the bottle in which it is kept; and it requires for fusion a higher temperature, namely 198° C. It has a somewhat different odour, resembling that of common camphor with the addition of patchouli or ambergris. The composition of borneol is represented by the formula C₁₀H₁₇(OH). It may be converted by the action of nitric acid into common camphor, which it nearly resembles in most of its physical properties. Conversely, borneol may also be prepared from common camphor. By continued oxydation borneol yields camphoric acid.

_Camphor Oil of Borneo_—Besides camphor, the _Dryobalanops_ furnishes another product, a liquid termed _Camphor Oil_, which must not be confounded with the camphor oil that drains out of crude laurel camphor. This Bornean or Sumatran _Camphor Oil_ is obtained by tapping the trees, or in felling them (see also p. 229). In the latter way, Motley in cutting down a tree in Labuan in May, 1851, pierced a reservoir in the trunk from which about five gallons of camphor oil were obtained, though much could not be caught.[1913] The liquid was a volatile oil holding in solution a resin, which after a few days’ exposure to the air, was left in a syrupy state. This camphor oil, which is termed _Borneene_, is isomeric with oil of turpentine, C₁₀H₁₆, yet in the crude state holding in solution borneol and resin. By fractional distillation, it may be separated into two portions, the one more volatile than the other but not differing in composition.

_Camphor Oil of Formosa_, which has been already referred to as draining out of the crude camphor of _Cinnamomum Camphora_, is a brown liquid holding in solution an abundance of common camphor, which it speedily deposits in crystals when the temperature is slightly reduced. From Borneo Camphor Oil it may be distinguished by its _odour of sassafras_. We find no optical difference in the rotatory power of the oils; both are dextrogyre to the same extent, which is still the case if the camphor from the lauraceous camphor oil is separated by cooling. Borneo camphor oil, for a sample of which we are indebted to Prof. de Vriese, deposits no camphor even when kept at -15° C.

_Ngai Camphor, Blumea Camphor_—It has been known for many years that the Chinese are in the habit of using a third variety of camphor, having a pecuniary value intermediate between that of common camphor and of Borneo camphor. This substance is manufactured at Canton and in the island of Hainan, the plant from which it is obtained being _Blumea balsamifera_ DC., a tall herbaceous _Composita_, of the tribe _Inuloideæ_, called in Chinese _Ngai_, abundant in Tropical Eastern Asia.

The drug has been supplied to us[1914] in two forms,—crude and pure,—the first being in crystalline grains of a dirty white, contaminated with vegetable remains; the second in colourless crystals as much as an inch in length. By sublimation the substance may be obtained in distinct, brilliant crystals, agreeing precisely with those of Borneo camphor, which they also resemble in odour and hardness, as well as in being a little heavier than water and not so volatile as common camphor.

The chemical examination of Ngai camphor, performed by Plowman,[1915] under the direction of Prof. Attfield, has proved that it has the composition C₁₀H₁₈O, like Borneo camphor. But the two substances differ in optical properties,[1916] an alcoholic solution of Ngai camphor being _levogyre_ in about the same degree that one of Borneo camphor is _dextrogyre_. By boiling nitric acid, Borneo camphor is transformed into common (_dextrogyre_) camphor, whereas Ngai camphor affords a similar yet _levogyre_ camphor, in all probability identical with the stearoptene of _Chrysanthemum Parthenium_ Pers.

As Ngai camphor is about ten times the price of Formosa camphor, it never finds its way to Europe as an article of trade. In China it is consumed partly in medicine and partly in perfuming the fine kinds of Chinese ink. The export of this camphor by sea from Canton is valued at about £3,000 a year; it is also exported from Kiung-chow, in the island of Hainan.

[1913] Ibn Khurdádbah in the 9th century mentions it as being obtained in this way.

[1914] Through the courtesy of Mr. F. H. Ewer, of the Imperial Maritime Customs, Canton.—Hanbury, _Science Papers_, 189. 393.

[1915] _Pharm. Journ._ March 7, 1874. 710.

[1916] Flückiger in _Pharm. Journ._ April 18, 1874. 829.

CORTEX CINNAMOMI.

_Cortex Cinnamomi Zeylanici_; _Cinnamon_; F. _Cannelle de Ceylan_; G. _Zimmt_, _Ceylon Zimmt_, _Kaneel_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Cinnamomum zeylanicum_ Breyne,—a small evergreen tree, richly clothed with beautiful, shining leaves usually somewhat glaucous beneath, and having panicles of greenish flowers of disagreeable odour.

It is a native of Ceylon, where, according to Thwaites, it is generally distributed through the forests up to an elevation of 3,000 feet, and one variety even to 8,000 feet. It is exceedingly variable in stature, and in the outline, size and consistence of the leaf; and several of the extreme forms are very unlike one another and have received specific names. But there are also numerous intermediate forms; and in a large suite of specimens, many occur of which it is impossible to determine whether they should be referred to this species or to that. Thwaites[1917] is of opinion that some still admitted species, as _C. obtusifolium_ Nees and _C. iners_ Reinw., will prove on further investigation to be mere forms of _C. zeylanicum_.

Beddome,[1918] Conservator of Forests in Madras, remarks that in the moist forests of South-western India there are 7 or 8 well-marked varieties which might easily be regarded as so many distinct species, but for the fact that they are so connected _inter se_ by intermediate forms, that it is impossible to find constant characters worthy of specific distinction. They grow from the sea-level up to the highest elevations, and, as Beddome thinks, owe their differences chiefly to local circumstances, so that he is disposed to class them simply as forms of _C. zeylanicum_.

=History=—(For that of the essential oil of cinnamon see page 526). Cinnamon was held in high esteem in the most remote times of history. In the words of the learned Dr. Vincent, Dean of Westminster,[1919] it seems to have been the first spice sought after in all oriental voyages. Both cinnamon and cassia are mentioned as precious odoriferous substances in the Mosaic writings and in the Biblical books of Psalms, Proverbs, Canticles, Ezekiel and Revelations, also by Theophrastus, Herodotus, Galen, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo and many other writers of antiquity: and from the accounts which have thus come down to us, there appears reason for believing that the spices referred to were nearly the same as those of the present day. That cinnamon and cassia were extremely analogous, is proved by the remark of Galen, that the finest cassia differs so little from the lowest quality of cinnamon, that the first may be substituted for the second, provided a double weight of it be used.

[1917] _Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniæ_, 1864. 252.—Consult also Meissner in De Cand. _Prod._ xv. sect. i. 10.

[1918] _Flora Sylvatica for Southern India_, 1872. 262.

[1919] _Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the Indian Ocean_, ii. (1807) 512.

It is also evident that both were regarded as among the most costly of aromatics, for the offering made by Seleucus II. Callinicus, king of Syria, and his brother Antiochus Hierax, to the temple of Apollo at Miletus, B.C. 243, consisting chiefly of vessels of gold and silver, and olibanum, myrrh (σμύρνη), costus (page 382), included also two pounds of _Cassia_ (κασία), and the same quantity of _Cinnamon_ (κιννάμωμον).[1920]

In connexion with this subject there is one remarkable fact to be noticed, which is that none of the cinnamon of the ancients was obtained from Ceylon. “In the pages of no author,” says Tennent,[1921] “European or Asiatic, from the earliest ages to the close of the thirteenth century, is there the remotest allusion to cinnamon as an indigenous production, or even as an article of commerce in Ceylon.” Nor do the annuals of the Chinese, between whom and the inhabitants of Ceylon, from the 4th to the 8th centuries, there was frequent intercourse and exchange of commodities, name _Cinnamon_ as one of the productions of the island. The Sacred Books and other ancient records of the Singhalese are also completely silent on this point.

Cassia, under the name of _Kwei_, is mentioned in the earliest Chinese herbal,—that of the emperor Shen-nung, who reigned about 2700 B.C., in the ancient Chinese[1922] Classics, and in the _Rh-ya_, a herbal dating from 1200 B.C. In the _Hai-yao-pên-ts’ao_, written in the 8th century, mention is made of _Tien-chu kwei_. Tien-chu is the ancient name for India: perhaps the allusion may be to the cassia bark of Malabar.

In connexion with these extremely early references to the spice, it may be stated that a bark supposed to be _cassia_ is mentioned as imported into Egypt together with gold, ivory, frankincense, precious woods, and apes, in the 17th century B.C.[1923]

The accounts given by Dioscorides, Ptolemy and the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, indicate that cinnamon and cassia were obtained from Arabia and Eastern Africa; and we further know that the importers were Phœnicians, who traded by Egypt and the Red Sea with Arabia. Whether the spice under notice was really a production of Arabia or Africa, or whether it was imported thither from Southern China (the present source of the best sort of cassia), is a question which has excited no small amount of discussion.

We are in favour of the second alternative,—firstly, because no substance of the nature of cinnamon is known to be produced in Arabia or Africa; and secondly, because the commercial intercourse which was undoubtedly carried on by China with India and Arabia, and which also existed between Arabia, India and Africa, is amply sufficient to explain the importation of Chinese produce.[1924] That the spice was a production of the far East is moreover implied by the name _Darchini_ (from _dar_, wood or bark, and _Chini_, Chinese) given to it by the Arabians and Persians.

[1920] Chishull, _Antiquities Asiaticæ_, 1728. 65-72.

[1921] _Ceylon_, i (1859) 575.

[1922] We are indebted to Dr. Bretschneider of Pekin for these references to Chinese literature. For information about some of the works quoted, see his pamphlet _On the Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works_, Foochow, 1870.

[1923] Dümichen, _Fleet of an Egyptian Queen_, Leipzig, 1868, p. 1.

[1924] “ ... That there was an ulterior commerce beyond Ceylon is indubitable; for at Ceylon the trade from Malacca and the Golden Chersonese met the merchants from Arabia, Persia and Egypt. This might possibly have been in the hands of the Malays or even the Chinese, who seem to have been navigators in all ages as universally as the Arabians....” Vincent, _op. cit._ ii. 284. 285.—In the time of Marco Polo, the trade of China westward met the trade of the Red Sea, no longer in Ceylon, but on the coast of Malabar, apparently at Calicut, where the Portuguese found it on their first arrival. Here, says Marco, the ships from Aden obtained their lading from the East, and carried it into the Red Sea for Alexandria, whence it passed into Europe by means of the Venetians.—See also Yule, _Book of Ser Marco Polo_, ii. (1871) 325, 327.

If this view of the case is admissible, we must regard the ancient cinnamon to have been the substance now known as _Chinese Cassia lignea_ or _Chinese Cinnamon_, and cassia as one of the thicker and perhaps less aromatic barks of the same group, such in fact as are still found in commerce.

Of the circumstances which led to the collection of cinnamon in Ceylon, and of the period at which it was commenced, nothing is known. That the Chinese were concerned in the discovery is not an unreasonable supposition, seeing that they traded to Ceylon, and were in all probability acquainted with the cassia-yielding species of _Cinnamomum_ of Southern China, a tree extremely like the cinnamon tree of Ceylon.

Whatever may be the facts, the early notices of cinnamon as a production of Ceylon are not prior to the 13th century. The very first, according to Yule,[1925] is a mention of the spice by Kazwini, an Arab writer of about A.D. 1275, very soon after which period it is noticed by the historian of the Egyptian Sultan Kelaoun, A.D. 1283. The prince of Ceylon is stated to have sent an ambassador, Al-Hadj-Abu-Othman, to the Sultan’s court. It was mentioned that Ceylon produced elephants, Bakam (the wood of _Cæsalpinia Sapan_ L.—see page 216), pearls and also _cinnamon_.[1926]

A still more positive evidence is due to the Minorite friar, John of Montecorvino, a missionary who visited India. This man, in a letter under date December 20th, 1292 or 1293, written at “Mabar, città dell’ India di sopra,” and still extant in the Medicean library at Florence, says that the cinnamon tree is of medium bulk, and in trunk, bark and foliage, like a laurel, and that great store of its bark is carried forth from the island which is near by Malabar.[1927]

Again, it is mentioned by the Mahomedan traveller Ibn Batuta about A.D. 1340,[1928] and a century later by the Venetian merchant Nicolo di Conti, whose description of the tree is very correct.[1929]

The circumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope led to the real discovery of Ceylon by the Portuguese in 1505, and to their permanent occupation of the island in 1536, chiefly for the sake of the cinnamon. It is from the first of these dates that more exact accounts of the spice began to reach Europe. Thus in 1511 Barbosa distinguished the fine cinnamon of Ceylon from the inferior _Canella trista_ of Malabar. Garcia de Orta, about the middle of the same century, stated that Ceylon cinnamon was forty times as dear as that of Malabar. Clusius, the translator of Garcia, saw branches of the cinnamon tree as early as 1571 at Bristol and in Holland.

[1925] _Marco Polo_, ii. 255.

[1926] _Quatremère_ (in the book quoted at page 511, note 4), ii. 284.

[1927] Yule, _Cathay and the way thither_, i. 213, also Kunstmann, _Anzeigen der baierischen Akademie_, 24 and 25 December 1855. p. 163 and 169.

[1928] _Travels of Ibn Batuta_, translated by Lee, Lond. 1829. 184.

[1929] Ramusio, _Raccolta delle Navigationi et Viaggi_, i. (1563) 339; Kunstmann, _Kenntniss Indiens im fünfzehnten Jahrhundert_, 1864. 39.

At this period cinnamon was cut from trees growing wild in the forests in the interior of Ceylon, the bark being exacted as tribute from the Singhalese kings by the Portuguese. A peculiar caste called _chalias_, who are said to have emigrated from India to Ceylon in the 13th century, and who in after-times became cinnamon-peelers, delivered the bark to the Portuguese. The cruel oppression of these _chalias_ was not mitigated by the Dutch, who from the year 1656 were virtually masters of the whole seaboard, and conceded the cinnamon trade to their East India Company as a profitable monopoly, which the Company exercised with the greatest severity.[1930] The bark previous to shipment was minutely examined by special officers, to guard against frauds on the part of the _chalias_.

About 1770 De Koke conceived the happy idea, in opposition to the universal prejudice in favour of wild-growing cinnamon, of attempting the cultivation of the tree. This project was carried out under Governors Falck and Van der Graff with extraordinary success, so that the Dutch were able, independently of the kingdom of Kandy, to furnish about 400,000 lb. of cinnamon annually, thereby supplying the entire European demand. In fact, they completely ruled the trade, and would even _burn_ the cinnamon in Holland, lest its unusual abundance should reduce the price.

After Ceylon had been wrested from the Dutch by the English in 1796, the cinnamon trade became the monopoly of the English East India Company, who then obtained more cinnamon from the forests, especially after the year 1815, when the kingdom of Kandy fell under British rule. But though the _chalias_ had much increased in numbers, the yearly production of cinnamon does not appear to have exceeded 500,000 lb. The condition of the unfortunate _chalias_ was not ameliorated until 1833, when the monopoly granted to the Company was finally abolished, and Government, ceasing to be the sole exporters of cinnamon, permitted the merchants of Colombo and Galle to share in the trade.

Cinnamon however was still burdened with an export duty equal to a third or a half of its value; in consequence of which and of the competition with cinnamon raised in Java, and with cassia from China and other places, the cultivation in Ceylon began to suffer. This duty was not removed until 1853.

The earliest notice of cinnamon in connexion with Northern Europe that we have met with, is the diploma granted by Chilperic II., king of the Franks, to the monastery of Corbie in Normandy, A.D. 716, in which provision is made for a certain supply of spices and grocery, including 5 lb. of _Cinnamon_.[1931]

The extraordinary value set on cinnamon at this period is remarkably illustrated by some letters written from Italy, in which mention is here and there incidentally made of presents of spices and incense.[1932] Thus in A.D. 745, Gemmulus, a Roman deacon, sends to Boniface, archbishop of Mayence (“_cum magnâ reverentiâ_”), 4 ounces of _Cinnamon_, 4 ounces of Costus, and 2 pounds of Pepper. In A.D. 748, Theophilacias, a Roman archdeacon, presents to the same bishop similar spices and incense. Lullus, the successor of Boniface, sends to Eadburga, _abbatissa Thanetensis_,[1933] _circa_ A.D. 732-751—“_unum graphium argenteum et storacis et_ cinnamomi _partem aliquam_”; and about the same date, another present of cinnamon to archbishop Boniface is recorded. Under date A.D. 732-742, a letter is extant of three persons to the abbess Cuneburga, to whom the writers offer—“_turis et piperis et_ cinnamomi _permodica xenia, sed omni mentis affectione destinata_.”

[1930] Tennent, _op. cit._ ii. 52.

[1931] Pardessus, _Diplomata_, etc., Paris, 1849. ii. 309.

[1932] Jaffé, _Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum_, Berlin, iii. (1866) 154. 199. 214. 216-8. 109.

[1933] Doubtless _Eadburh_, third abbess of Minster in the Isle of Thanet in Kent. She died A.D. 751.

In the 9th century, _Cinnamon_, pepper, costus, cloves, and several indigenous aromatic plants were used in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland as ingredients for seasoning fish.[1934]

Of the pecuniary value of this spice in England, there are many notices from the year 1264 downwards.[1935] In the 16th century it was probably not plentiful, if we may judge from the fact that it figures among the New Year’s gifts to Philip and Mary (1556-57), and to Queen Elizabeth (1561-62).[1936]

=Production and Commerce=[1937]—The best cinnamon is produced, according to Thwaites,[1938] from a cultivated or selected form of the tree (var. α.), distinguished by large leaves of somewhat irregular shape. But the bark of all the forms possesses the odour of cinnamon in a greater or less degree. It is not however always possible to judge of the quality of the bark from the foliage, so that the peelers when collecting from uncultivated trees, are in the habit of tasting the bark before commencing operations, and pass over some trees as unfit for their purpose. The bark of varieties β. _multiflorum_ and γ. _ovalifolium_ is of very inferior quality, and said to be never collected unless for the purpose of adulteration.

The best variety appears to find the conditions most favourable to its culture, in the strip of country, 12 to 15 miles broad, on the south-west coast of Ceylon, between Negumbo, Colombo and Matura, where the tree is grown up to an elevation of 1500 feet. A very sandy clay soil, or fine white quartz, with a good sub-soil and free exposure to the sun and rain, are the circumstances best adapted for the cultivation. The management of the plantations resembles that of oak coppice in England. The system of pruning checks the plant from becoming a tree, and induces it to form a stool from which four or five shoots are allowed to grow; these are cut at the age of 1½ to 2 years, when the greyish-green epidermis begins to turn brown by reason of the formation of a corky layer. They are not all cut at the same time, but only as they arrive at the proper state of maturity; they are then 6 to 10 feet high and 1 to 2 inches thick. In some of the cinnamon gardens at Colombo, the stools are very large and old, dating back, it is supposed, from the time of the Dutch.

[1934] _Pharm. Journ._ viii. (1877) 121.

[1935] Eden, _State of the Poor_, ii. (1797) appendix; Rogers, _Hist. of Agriculture and Prices in England_, ii. (1866) 543.

[1936] Nicholls, _Progresses and Processions of Q. Elizabeth_, i. (1823) xxxiv. 118.

[1937] Additional information may be found in two papers by Marshall, in Thomson’s _Annals of Philosophy_, x. (1817) 241 and 346; see also Leschenault de la Tour, _Mém. du Musée d’Hist. nat._ viii. (1822) 436-446.

[1938] _Op. cit._ 252-253.

In consequence of the increased flow of sap which occurs after the heavy rains in May and June, and again in November and December, the bark at those seasons is easily separated from the wood, so that a principal harvest takes place in the spring, and a smaller one in the latter part of the year.

The shoots having been cut off by means of a long sickle-shaped hook called a _catty_, and stripped of their leaves, are slightly trimmed with a knife, the little pieces thus removed being reserved and sold as _Cinnamon Chips_. The bark is next cut through at distances of about a foot, and slit lengthwise, when it is easily and completely removed by the insertion of a peculiar knife termed a _mama_, the separation being assisted, if necessary, by strongly rubbing with the handle. The pieces of bark are now carefully put one into another, and the compound sticks firmly bound together into bundles. Thus they are left for 24 hours or more, during which a sort of “_fermentation_” (?) goes on which facilitates the subsequent removal part. This is accomplished by placing each quill on a stick of wood of suitable thickness, and carefully scraping off with a knife the outer and middle cortical layer. In a few hours after this operation, the peeler commences to place the smaller tubes within the larger, also inserting the small pieces so as to make up an almost solid stick, of about 40 inches in length. The cinnamon thus prepared is kept one day in the shade, and then placed on wicker trays in the sun to dry. When sufficiently dry, it is made into bundles of about 30 lb. each.[1939]

The cinnamon gardens of Ceylon were estimated in 1860-64 to occupy an area of about 14,400 acres; in the catalogue of the British Colonies, Paris Exhibition, 1878, about 2 millions of acres are stated to be under cultivation in the island, 26,000 acres with cinnamon.[1940]

The exports of cinnamon from Ceylon have been as follows:—

1871 1872 1875 1,359,327 lb., 1,267,953 lb., 1,500,000 lb. value £67,966. value £64,747.

At present the cultivation of coffee is displacing that of cinnamon, the exports of the former in 1875 being 928,606 cwts. valued at 4¼ millions sterling. Of the crop of 1872 there were 1,179,516 lb. of cinnamon shipped to the United Kingdom, 53,439 lb. to the United States of North America, and 10,000 lb. to Hamburg.

Besides the above-named exports of cinnamon, the official statistics[1941] record the export of “_Cinnamon Bark_”—8846 lb. in 1871—23,449 lb. in 1872. This name includes two distinct articles, namely _Cinnamon Chips_, and a very thick bark derived from old stems. The _Cinnamon Chips_ which, as explained on the previous page, are the first trimmings of the shoots, are very aromatic; they used to be considered worthless, and were thrown away. The second article, to which in the London drug sales the name “_Cinnamon Bark_” is restricted, is in flat or slightly channelled fragments, which are as much as ⁴/₁₀ of an inch in thickness, and remind one of New Granada cinchona bark. It is very deficient in aromatic qualities, and quite unfit for use in pharmacy.

[1939] Formerly called _fardela_ or _fardello_, a name signifying in the Romance languages _bundle_ or _package_. The word _fardel_, having the same meaning, is found in old English writers.

[1940] Yet the cultivation was far more extensive in the earlier part of the century, as we may judge by the statement that the five principal cinnamon gardens around Negumbo, Colombo, Barberyn, Galle, and Matura, were _each from 15 to 20 miles in circumference_ (Tennent’s _Ceylon_, ii. 163).

[1941] _Ceylon Blue Books_ for 1871 and 1872, printed at Colombo.

In most other countries into which _Cinnamomum zeylanicum_ has been transplanted, it has been found that, partly from its tendency to pass into new varieties and partly perhaps from want of careful cultivation and the absence of the skilled cinnamon-peeler, it yields a bark appreciably different from that of Ceylon. Of other cinnamon-producing districts, those of Southern India may be mentioned as affording the _Malabar_ or _Tinnevelly_, and the _Tellicherry Cinnamon_ of commerce, the latter being almost as good as the cinnamon of Ceylon.[1942] The cultivation in Java commenced in 1825. The plant, according to Miquel, is a variety of _C. zeylanicum_, distinguished by its very large leaves which are frequently 8 inches long by 5 inches broad. The island exported in 1870, 1109 peculs (147,866 lb.); in 1871 only 446 peculs (59,466 lb.).[1943]

Cinnamon is also grown in the French colony of Guyana and in Brazil, but on an insignificant scale. The samples of the bark from those countries which we have examined are quite unlike the cinnamon of Ceylon. That of Brazil in particular has evidently been taken from stems several years old.

The importations of cinnamon into the United Kingdom from Ceylon are shown by the following figures:—

1867 1869 1870 859,034 lb. 2,611,473 lb. 2,148,405 lb.

1871 1872 1876 1,430,518 lb. 1,015,461 lb. 1,339,060 lb.

During 1872, 56,000 lb. of cinnamon were imported from other countries.

=Description=—Ceylon cinnamon of the finest description is imported in the form of sticks, about 40 inches in length and ⅜ of an inch in thickness, formed of tubular pieces of bark about a foot long, dexterously arranged one within the other, so as to form an even rod of considerable firmness and solidity. The quills of bark are not rolled up as simple tubes, but each side curls inwards so as to form a channel with in-curving sides, a circumstance that gives to the entire stick a somewhat flattened cylindrical form. The bark composing the stick is extremely thin, measuring often no more than ¹/₁₁₁₁ of an inch in thickness. It has a light brown, dull surface, faintly marked with shining wavy lines, and bearing here and there scars or holes at the points of insertion of leaves or twigs. The inner surface of the bark is of a darker hue. The bark is brittle and splintery, with a fragrant odour, peculiar to itself and the allied barks of the same genus. Its taste is saccharine, pungent, and aromatic.

[1942] Some of it however is very thick, though neatly quilled.

[1943] _Consular Reports_, Aug. 1873. 952.

The bales of cinnamon which arrive in London are always re-packed in the dock warehouses, in doing which a certain amount of breakage occurs. The spice so injured is kept separate and sold as _Small Cinnamon_, and is very generally used for pharmaceutical purposes. It is often of excellent quality.

=Microscopic Structure=—By the peeling above described, Ceylon cinnamon is deprived of the suberous coat and the greater part of the middle cortical layer, so that it almost consists of the mere liber (_endophlœum_). Three different layers are to be distinguished on a transverse section of this tissue:—

1. The external surface which is composed of one to three rows of large thick-walled cells, forming a coherent ring; it is only interrupted by bundles of liber-fibres, which are obvious even to the unaided eye; they compose in fact the wavy lines mentioned in the last page.

2. The middle layer is built up of about ten rows of parenchymatous thin-walled cells, interrupted by much larger cells containing deposits of mucilage, while other cells, not larger than those of the parenchyme itself, are loaded with essential oil.

3. The innermost layer exhibits the same thin-walled but smaller cells, yet intersected by narrow, somewhat darker, medullary rays, and likewise interrupted by cells containing either mucilage or essential oil.

Instead of bundles of liber-fibres, fibres mostly isolated are scattered through the two inner layers, the parenchyme of which abounds in small starch granules accompanied by tannic matter. On a longitudinal section, the length of the liber-fibres becomes more evident, as well as oil-ducts and gum-ducts.

=Chemical Composition=—The most interesting and noteworthy constituent of cinnamon is the essential oil, which the bark yields to the extent of ½ to 1 per cent., and which is distilled in Ceylon,—very seldom in England. It was prepared by Valerius Cordus, who stated,[1944] somewhat before 1544, that the oils of _cinnamon_ and _cloves_ belong to the small number of essential oils which are heavier than water, “fundum petunt.” About 1571 the essential oils of _cinnamon_, mace, _cloves_, _pepper_, nutmegs and several others, were also distilled by Guintherus of Andernach,[1945] and again, about the year 1589, by Porta.[1946]

In the latter part of the last century, it used to be brought to Europe by the Dutch. During the five years from 1775 to 1779 inclusive, the average quantity _annually_ disposed of at the sales of the Dutch East India Company was 176 ounces. The wholesale price in London between 1776 and 1782 was 21_s._ per ounce; but from 1785 to 1789, the oil fetched 63_s._ to 68_s._, the increase in value being doubtless occasioned by the war with Holland commenced in 1782. The oil is now largely produced in Ceylon, from which island the quantity exported in 1871 was 14,796 ounces; and in 1872, 39,100 ounces.[1947] The oil is shipped chiefly to England.

Oil of cinnamon is a golden yellow liquid, having a sp. gr. of 1·035, a powerful cinnamon odour, and a sweet and aromatic but burning taste. It deviates a ray of polarized light a very little to the left. The oil consists chiefly of _Cinnamic Aldehyde_, C₆H₅(CH)₂COH, together with a variable proportion of hydrocarbons. At a low temperature it becomes turbid by the deposit of a camphor, which we have not examined. The oil easily absorbs oxygen, becoming thereby contaminated with resin and cinnamic acid, C₆H₅(CH)₂COOH.

[1944] In his book “De artificiosis extractionibus,” published by Gesner, Argentorati, 1561, fol. 226.

[1945] _De medicina veteri et nova_, Basileæ, 1571. 630-635.

[1946] _Magiæ Naturalis libri xx._ Neapoli 1589. 184.

[1947] _Ceylon Blue Books_ for 1871 and 1872.

Cinnamon contains sugar, mannite, starch, mucilage, and tannic acid. The _Cinnamomin_ of Martin (1868) has been shown by Wittstein to be very probably mere mannite. The effect of iodine on a decoction of cinnamon will be noticed under the head of Cassia Lignea. Cinnamon afforded to Schätzler (1862) 5 per cent. of ash consisting chiefly of the carbonates of calcium and potassium.

=Uses=—Cinnamon is used in medicine as a cordial and stimulant, but is much more largely consumed as a spice.

=Adulteration=—Cassia lignea being much cheaper than cinnamon, is very commonly substituted for it. So long as the bark is entire, there is no difficulty in its recognition, but if it should have been reduced to powder, the case is widely different. We have found the following tests of some service, when the spice to be examined is in powder:—Make a decoction of powdered cinnamon of known genuineness; and one of similar strength of the suspected powder. When cool and strained, test a fluid ounce of each with one or two drops of tincture of iodine. A decoction of cinnamon is but little affected, but in that of cassia a deep blue-black tint is immediately produced (see further on, Cort. Cassiæ). The cheap kinds of cassia, known as _Cassia vera_, may be distinguished from the more valuable _Chinese Cassia_, as well as from cinnamon, by their richness in mucilage. This can be extracted by cold water as a thick glairy liquid, giving dense ropy precipitates with corrosive sublimate or neutral acetate of lead, but not with alcohol.

Other products of the Cinnamon Tree.

_Essential Oil of Cinnamon Leaf_ (_Oleum Cinnamomi foliorum_)—This is a brown, viscid, essential oil, of clove-like odour, which is sometimes exported from Ceylon. It has been examined by Stenhouse (1854), who found it to have a sp. gr. of 1·053, and to consist of a mixture of _Eugenol_ (p. 284) with a neutral hydrocarbon having the formula C₁₀H₁₆. It also contains a small quantity of benzoic acid.

_Essential Oil of Cinnamon Root_ (_Oleum Cinnamomi radicis_)—A yellow liquid, lighter than water, having a mixed odour of camphor and cinnamon, and a strong camphoraceous taste. Both this oil and that of the leaf were described by Kämpfer (1712) and by Seba in 1731,[1948] and perhaps by Garcia de Orta so early as 1563. Solid camphor may also be obtained from the root. A water distilled from the flowers, and a fatty oil expressed from the fruits are likewise noticed by old writers, but are unknown to us.

[1948] _Phil. Trans._ xxxvi. (1731) 107.

CORTEX CASSIÆ LIGNEÆ.

_Cassia Lignea_, _Cassia Bark_.

=Botanical Origin=—Various species of _Cinnamomum_ occurring in the warm countries of Asia from India eastward, afford what is termed in commerce _Cassia Bark_. The trees are extremely variable in foliage, inflorescences and aromatic properties, and the distinctness of several of the species laid down even in recent works is still uncertain.

The bark which bears _par excellence_ the name of _Cassia_ or _Cassia lignea_, and which is distinguished on the Continent as _Chinese Cinnamon_, is a production of the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi and Kweichau in Southern China. The French expedition of Lieut. Garnier for the exploration of the Mekong and of Cochin China (1866-68) found cassia growing in about N. lat. 19° in the forests of the valley of the Se Ngum, one of the affluents on the left bank of the Mekong near the frontiers of Annam. A part of this cassia is carried by land into China, while another part is conveyed to Bangkok.[1949] Although it is customary to refer it without hesitation to a tree named _Cinnamomum Cassia_, we find no warrant for such reference: no competent observer has visited and described the cassia-yielding districts of China proper, and brought therefrom the specimens requisite for ascertaining the botanical origin of the bark.[1950]

Cassia lignea is also produced in the Khasya mountains in Eastern Bengal, whence it is brought down to Calcutta for shipment.[1951] In this region there are three species of _Cinnamomum_, growing at 1000 to 4000 feet above the sea-level, and all have bark with the flavour of cinnamon, more or less pure: they are _C. obtusifolium_ Nees, _C. pauciflorum_ Nees, and _C. Tamala_ Fr. Nees et Eberm.

_Cinnamomum iners_ Reinw., a very variable species occurring in Continental India, Ceylon, Tavoy, Java, Sumatra and other islands of the Indian Archipelago, and possibly in the opinion of Thwaites a mere variety of _C. zeylanicum_, but according to Meissner well distinguished by its paler, thinner leaves, its nervation, and the character of its aroma, would appear to yield the cassia bark or wild cinnamon of Southern India.[1952]

_C. Tamala_ Fr. Nees et Eberm., which besides growing in Khasya is found in the contiguous regions of Silhet, Sikkim, Nepal, and Kumaon, and even reaches Australia, probably affords some cassia bark in Northern India.

Large quantities of a thick sort of cassia have at times been imported from Singapore and Batavia, much of which is produced in Sumatra. In the absence of any very reliable information as to its botanical sources, we may suggest as probable mother plants, _C. Cassia_ Bl. and _C. Burmanni_ Bl., var. α. _chinense_, both stated by Teijsmann and Binnendijk to be cultivated in Java.[1953] The latter species, growing also in the Philippines, most probably affords the cassia bark which is shipped from Manila.

[1949] Thorel, _Notes médicales du Voyage d’Exploration du Mékong et de Cochinchine_, Paris, 1870. 30.—Garnier, _Voyage en Indo-Chine_, ii. (Paris, 1873) 438.

[1950] The greatest market in China for cassia and cinnamon according to Dr. F. Porter Smith, is Taiwu in Ping-nan hien (Sin-chau fu), in Kwangsi province.—_Mat. Med. and Nat. Hist. of China_, 1871. 52.—The capital of Kwangsi is Kweilin fu, literally _Cassia-Forest_.

[1951] Hooker, _Himalayan Journals_, ed. 2. ii. (1855) 303.

[1952] A specimen of the stem-bark of _C. iners_ from Travancore, presented to us by Dr. Waring, has a delightful odour, but is quite devoid of the taste of cinnamon.

[1953] _Catalogues Plantarum quæ in Horto Botanico Bogoriensi coluntur_, Batavia, 1866. 92.

=History=—In the preceding article we have indicated (p. 520) the remote period at which cassia bark appears to have been known to the Chinese; and have stated the reasons that led us to believe the cinnamon of the ancients was that substance. It must, however, be observed that Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Strabo and others, as well as the remarkable inscription on the temple of Apollo at Miletus, represent cinnamon and cassia as distinct, but nearly allied substances. While, on the other hand, the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, in enumerating the products shipped from the various commercial ports of Eastern Africa[1954] in the first century, mentions _Cassia_ (κμσία or κασσία) of various kinds, but never employs the word _Cinnamon_ (κινναμώμον).

In the list of productions of India on which duty was levied at the Roman custom-house at Alexandria, _circa_ A.D. 176-180, _Cinnamomum_ is mentioned as well as _Cassia turiana_, _Xylocassia_ and _Xylocinnamomum_.[1955] Of the distinction here drawn between cinnamon and cassia we can give no explanation; but it is worthy of note that _twigs_ and _branches_ of a _Cinnamomum_ are sold in the Chinese drug shops, and may not improbably be the _xylocassia_ or _xylocinnamon_ of the ancients.[1956] The name _Cassia lignea_ would seem to have been originally bestowed on some such substance, rather than as at present on a mere bark. The spice was also undoubtedly called _Cassia syrinx_ and _Cassia fistularis_ (p. 221),—names which evidently refer to a bark which had the form of a tube. In fact there may well have been a diversity of qualities, some perhaps very costly. It is remarkable that such is still the case in China, and that the wealthy Chinese employ a thick variety of cassia, the price of which is as much as 18 dollars per catty, or about 56_s._ per lb.[1957]

Whether the _Aromata Cassiæ_, which were presented to the Church at Rome under St. Silvester, A.D. 314-335, was the modern cassia bark, is rather doubtful. The largest donation, 200 lb., which was accompanied by pepper, saffron, storax, cloves, and balsam, would appear to have arrived from Egypt.[1958] Cassia seems to have been known in Western Europe as early as the 7th century, for it is mentioned with cinnamon by St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville.[1959] Cassia is named in one of the Leech-books in use in England prior to the Norman conquest.[1960] The spice was then sold in London as _Canel_ in 1264, at 10_d._ per lb., sugar being at the same time 12_d._, cumin 2_d._, and ginger 18_d._[1961] In the _Boke of Nurture_,[1962] written in the 15th century by John Russell, chamberlain to Humphry, duke of Gloucester, cassia is spoken of as resembling cinnamon, but cheaper and commoner, exactly as at the present day.

[1954] Vincent, _Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients in the Indian Ocean_, ii. (1807) 130. 134. 149. 150. 157.—That the ancients should confound the different kinds of cassia is really no matter for surprise, when we moderns, whether botanists, pharmacologists, or spice-dealers, are unable to point out characters by which to distinguish the barks of this group, or even to give definite names to those found in our warehouses.

[1955] Vincent, _op. cit._ ii. 701-716.

[1956] See further on, Allied Products, _Cassia twigs_, page 533.

[1957] Very fine specimens of this costly bark have been kindly supplied to us by Dr. H. F. Hance, British Vice-Consul at Whampoa.

[1958] Vignolius, _Liber Pontificalis_, Romæ, i. (1724) 94. 95.

[1959] Migne, _Patrologiæ Cursus_, lxxxii. (1850) 622.—St. Isidore evidently quotes Galen, but his remarks imply that both spices were known at the period when he wrote.

[1960] Cockayne, _Leechdoms, etc., of Early England_, ii. (1865) 143.

[1961] Rogers, _Hist. of Agriculture and Prices in England_, ii. (1866) 543.

[1962] The book has been reprinted for the Early English Text Society, 1868.—Russell says:—“Looke that your stikkes of _synamome_ be thyn, bretille and fayre in colewr ... for _canelle_ is not so good in this crafte and cure.”—And in his directions “_how to make Ypocras_,” he prescribes _synamome_ in that “_for lordes_,” but “_canelle_” in that for “_commyn peple_.”

=Production=—We have no information whether the tree which affords the cassia bark of Southern China is cultivated, or whether it is exclusively found wild.

The Calcutta cassia bark collected in the Khasya mountains and brought to Calcutta is afforded by wild trees of small size. Dr. Hooker who visited the district with Dr. Thomson in 1850, observes that the trade in the bark is of recent introduction.[1963] The bark which varies much in thickness, has been scraped of its outer layer.

Cassia is extensively produced in Sumatra, as may be inferred from the fact that Padang in that island, exported of the bark in 1871, 6127 peculs (817,066 lb.), a large proportion of which was shipped to America.[1964] Regarding the collection of cassia on the Malabar coast, in Java and in the Philippines, no particular account has, so far as we know, been published. Spain imported from the Philippines by way of Cadiz in 1871, 93,000 lb. of cassia.[1965]

=Description=—_Chinese Cassia lignea_, otherwise called _Chinese Cinnamon_, which of all the varieties is that most esteemed, and approaching most nearly to Ceylon cinnamon, arrives in small bundles about a foot in length and a pound in weight, the pieces of bark being held together with bands of bamboo.

The bark has a general resemblance to cinnamon, but is in simple quills, not inserted one within the other. The quills moreover are less straight, even and regular, and are of a darker brown; and though some of the bark is extremely thin, other pieces are much stouter than fine cinnamon,—in fact, it is much less uniform. The outer coat has been removed with less care than that of Ceylon cinnamon, and pieces can easily be found with the corky layer untouched by the knife.

Cassia bark breaks with a short fracture. The thicker bark cut transversely shows a faint white line in the centre running parallel with the surface. Good cassia in taste resembles cinnamon, than which it is not less sweet and aromatic, though it is often described as less fine and delicate in flavour.

An unusual kind of cassia lignea is imported since 1870 from China and offered in the London market as _China Cinnamon_,[1966] though it is not the bark that bears this name in continental trade. The new drug is in _unscraped_ quills, which are mostly of about the thickness of ordinary Chinese cassia lignea; it has a very saccharine taste and pungent cinnamon flavour.

[1963] Hooker, _op. cit._

[1964] _Consular Reports_, August 1873. 953.

[1965] Consul Reade, _Report on the Trade, etc., of Cadiz for 1871_, where the spice is called “_cinnamon_.”

[1966] Flückiger in Wiggers and Husemann’s _Jahresbericht_ for 1872. 52.

The less esteemed kinds of cassia bark, which of late years have been poured into the market in vast quantity, are known in commerce as _Cassia lignea_, _Cassia vera_ or _Wild Cassia_, and are further distinguished by the names of the localities whence shipped, as Calcutta, Java, Timor, etc.

The barks thus met with vary exceedingly in colour, thickness and aroma, so that it is vain to attempt any general classification. Some have a pale cinnamon hue, but most are of a deep rich brown. They present all variations in thickness, from that of cardboard to more than a quarter of an inch thick. The flavour is more or less that of cinnamon, often with some unpleasant addition suggestive of insects of the genus _Cimex_. Many, besides being aromatic, are highly mucilaginous, the mucilage being freely imparted to cold water. Finally, we have met with some thick cassia bark of good appearance that was distinguished by astringency and the almost entire absence of aroma.

=Microscopic Structure=—A transverse section of such pieces of _Chinese Cassia lignea_ as still bear the suberous envelope, exhibits the following characters. The external surface is made up of several rows of the usual cork-cells, loaded with brown colouring matter. In pieces from which the cork-cells have been entirely scraped, the surface is formed of the mesophlœum, yet by far the largest part of the bark belongs to the liber or endophlœum. Isolated liber-fibres and thick-walled cells (stone-cells) are scattered even through the outer layers of a transverse section. In the middle zone they are numerous, but do not form a coherent sclerenchymatous ring as in cinnamon (p. 526). The innermost part of the liber shares the structural character of cinnamon with differences due to age, as for instance the greater development of the medullary rays. Oil-cells and gum-ducts are likewise distributed in the parenchyme of the former.

The “_China Cinnamon_” of 1870 (p. 530) comes still nearer to Ceylon cinnamon, except that it is coated. A transverse section of a quill, not thicker than one millimetre, exhibits the three layers described as characterizing that bark. The sclerenchymatous ring is covered by a parenchyme rich in oil-ducts, so that it is obvious that the flavour of this drug could not be improved by scraping. The corky layer is composed of the usual tabular cells. The liber of this drug in fact agrees with that of Ceylon cinnamon.

In _Cassia Barks of considerable thickness_, the same arrangement of tissues is met with, but their strong development causes a certain dissimilarity. Thus the thick-walled cells are more and more separated one from another, so as to form only small groups. The same applies also to the liber-fibres, which in thick barks are surrounded by a parenchyme, loaded with considerable crystals of oxalate of calcium. The gum-ducts are not larger, but are more numerous in these barks, which swell considerably in cold water.

=Chemical Composition=—Cassia bark owes its aromatic properties to an essential oil, which, in a chemical point of view, agrees with that of Ceylon cinnamon. The flavour of cassia oil is somewhat less agreeable, and as it exists in the less valuable sorts of cassia, decidedly different in aroma from that of cinnamon. We find the sp. gr. of a Chinese cassia oil to be 1·066, and its rotatory power in a column 50 mm. long, only 0°·1 to the right, differing consequently in this respect from that of cinnamon oil (p. 526).

Oil of cassia sometimes deposits a stearoptene, which when purified is a colourless, inodorous substance, crystallizing in shining brittle prisms.[1967] We have never met with it.

[1967] Rochleder and Schwarz (1850) in Gmelin’s _Chemistry_, xvii. 395.

If thin sections of cassia bark are moistened with a dilate solution of perchloride of iron, the contents of the parenchymatous part of the whole tissue assume a dingy brown colour; in the outer layers the starch granules even are coloured. _Tannic matter_ is consequently one of the chief constituents of the bark; the very cell-walls are also imbued with it. A decoction of the bark is turned blackish-green by a persalt of iron.

If cassia bark (or Ceylon cinnamon) is exhausted by _cold water_, the clear liquid becomes turbid on addition of iodine; the same occurs if a concentrated solution of iodide of potassium is added. An abundant precipitate is produced by addition of iodine dissolved in the potassium salt. The colour of iodine then disappears. There is consequently a substance present which unites with iodine; and in fact, if to a _decoction_ of cassia or cinnamon the said solution of iodine is added, it strikes a bright blue coloration, due to starch. But the colour quickly disappears, and becomes permanent only after much of the test has been added. We have not ascertained the nature of the substance that thus modifies the action of iodine: it can hardly be tannic matter, as we have found the reaction to be the same when we used bark that had been previously repeatedly treated with spirit of wine and then several times with boiling ether.

The mucilage contained in the gum-cells of the thinner quills of cassia is easily dissolved by cold water, and may be precipitated together with tannin by neutral acetate of lead, but not by alcohol. In the thicker barks it appears less soluble, merely swelling into a slimy jelly.

=Commerce=—Cassia lignea is exported from Canton in enormous and increasing quantities. The shipments which in 1864 amounted to 13,800 peculs, reached 40,600 in 1869,[1968] 61,220 in 1871, and 76,464 peculs (10,195,200 lb.) value £267,703, in 1872.[1969] In 1874 the exports were 54,268 peculs (1 pecul = 133⅓ lb.) and 58,313 peculs in 1878; from the other ports of China cassia is not shipped to any extent. England usually receives no more than about 1,000,000 lb. of cassia, of which only 40,000 lb. appear to be consumed in the country. Hamburg imports about 2,000,000 lb. annually immediately from China. Yet in 1878 the quantity imported into London was 26,744 peculs (3,500,000 lb.), that received at Hamburg 13,548 peculs.

Cassia lignea is exported in chests containing 2 peculs each.

_Oil of cassia_ was shipped from the south of China to the United Kingdom, to the extent in 1869 of 47,517 lb.; in 1870, of 28,389 lb.[1970] Hamburg is also a very important place for this oil; in the official statistics of that port for 1875 the imports from China are stated to have amounted to 30,000 lb., besides 10,000 lb. imported from Great Britain; in 1876 Hamburg imported 5,900 lb. from China and 17,000 lb. from England.

=Uses=—The same as those of cinnamon.

[1968] _Canton Trade Report_ for 1869.

[1969] _Commercial Reports from H. M. Consuls in China_, presented to Parliament 1873,—(Consul Robertson).

[1970] _Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom for 1870._ 290.—66,650 were exported in 1877 from Pakhoi.

Allied Products.

_Cassia Twigs_—The branches of the cassia trees, alluded to at page 529, would appear to be collected from the same trees which yield the cassia lignea. Garnier (_l.c._ at p. 528) says that the youngest branches are made into fagots, adding that they have the odour of bugs.

Cassia twigs are not as yet exported to Europe, but they constitute a very important article of the trade of the interior of China. In 1872 no less than 456,533 lb. of this _Wood of Cassia_ or _Cassia Twigs_ were shipped from Canton, for the most part to other Chinese ports.—The imports of Hankow, in 1874, of these twigs were 1925 peculs (259,667 lb.) valued at 5677 taels (1 tael about equal to 5_s._ 11_d._).[1971]

In the Paris Exhibition of 1878 we had the opportunity of examining some bundles of cassia twigs from western Kwangtung. The branches were as much as 2 feet in length and of the thickness of a finger. We found their bark to possess the usual flavour of cassia lignea.

_Cassia Buds, Flores Cassiæ_—These are the _immature fruits_ of the tree yielding Chinese cassia lignea, and have been used in Europe since the middle ages. In the journal of expenses (A.D. 1359-60) of John, king of France, when a prisoner at Somerton Castle in England, there are several entries for the spice under the name of _Flor de Canelle_; it was very expensive, costing from 8_s._ to 13_s._ per lb., or more than double the price of mace or cloves. On one occasion two pounds of it had to be obtained for the king’s use from Bruges.[1972] From the _Form of Cury_[1973] written in 1390, it appears that cassia buds (“_Flō de queynel_”) were used in preparing the spiced wine called _Hippocras_.

Cassia buds are shipped from Canton, but the exports have much declined. Rondot, writing in 1848,[1974] estimated them as averaging 400 peculs (53,333 lb.) a year. In 1866 there were shipped from Canton only 233 peculs (31,066 lb.); in 1867, 165 peculs (22,000 lb.)[1975] The quantity of cassia buds imported into the United Kingdom in 1870 was 29,321 lb.;[1976] the spice is sold chiefly by grocers. The great market for this drug is Hamburg, where in 1876, according to the official statistics, 1324 cwt. of cassia buds were imported.

In Southern India, the more mature fruits of one of the varieties of _Cinnamomum iners_ Reinw. are collected for use, but are very inferior to the Chinese cassia buds.

_Folia Malabathri_ or _Folia Indi_—is the name given to the dried, aromatic leaves of certain Indian species of _Cinnamomum_, formerly employed[1977] in European medicine, but now obsolete. Under the name _Taj-pat_, the leaves are still used in India; they are collected in Mysore from wild trees.

_Ishpingo_—This is the designation in Quito of the calyx of a tree of the laurel tribe, used in Ecuador and Peru in the place of cinnamon. Though but little known in Europe, it has a remarkable history.

[1971] _Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for 1872_, p. 34; for 1874, p. 7.

[1972] Doüet d’Arcq, _Comptes de l’Argenterie des Rois de France_, 1851. 206. 218. 222. 239. etc.

[1973] See p. 245, note 8.

[1974] _Commerce d’exportation de la Chine_, 45.

[1975] _Reports on Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for 1867_, Shanghai, 1868. 49.

[1976] _Annual Statement of the Trade and Navigation of the U.K. for 1870._ 101.

[1977] For further information consult Heyd, _Levantehandel_, ii. (1879) 663.

The existence of a spice-yielding region in South America, having come to the ears of the Spanish conquerors, was regarded as a matter of interest. It would appear that cinnamon was enumerated in the earliest accounts among the precious products of the New World.[1978] Such high importance was attached to it that in Ecuador an expedition was fitted out. The direction of the enterprise was confided to Gonzalo Pizarro, who with 340 soldiers, and more than 4000 Indians, laden with supplies, quitted the city of Quito on Christmas Day, 1539. The expedition, which lasted two years, resulted in the most lamentable failure, only 130 Spaniards surviving the hardships of the journey. In the account of it given by Garcilasso de la Vega, the cinnamon tree is described as having large leaves like those of a laurel, with fruits resembling acorns growing in clusters.[1979] Fernandez de Oviedo[1980] has also given some particulars regarding the spice, together with a figure fairly representing its remarkable form; and the subject has been noticed by several other Spanish writers, including Monardes.[1981]

Notwithstanding the celebrity thus conferred on the spice, and the fact that the latter gives its name to a large tract of country,[1982] and is still the object of a considerable traffic, the tree itself is all but unknown to science. Meissner places it doubtfully under the genus Nectandra, with the specific name _cinnamomoides_, but confesses that its flowers and fruits are alike unknown.[1983]

The spice, for an ample specimen of which we have to thank Dr. Destruge, of Guayaquil, consists of the enlarged and matured woody calyx, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, having the shape of a shallow funnel, the open part of which is a smooth cup (like the cup of an acorn), surrounded by a broad, irregular margin, usually recurved. The outer surface is rough and veiny, and the whole calyx is dark brown, and has a strong, sweet, aromatic taste, like cinnamon, for which in Ecuador it is the common substitute.

Dr. Destruge has also furnished us with a specimen of the _bark_, which is in very small uncoated quills, exactly simulating true cinnamon. We are not aware whether the bark is thus prepared in quantity.

[1978] Account of Petrus Martyr d’Angleria to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, in Michael Herr’s _Die neue Welt_, etc., Strassburg, 1534. fol. 175.

[1979] _Travels of Pedro de Cieza de Leon_, A.D. 1532-50, translated by Markham (Hakluyt Society) Lond. 1864. chap. 39-40; also _Expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro to the Land of Cinnamon_, by Garcilasso Inca de la Vega, forming part of the same volume.

[1980] _Historia de las Indias_, Madrid, i. (1851) 357. (lib. ix. c. 31).

[1981] _De la Canela de nuestras Indias._—_Historia de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias occidentales_, Sevilla, 1574. 98.

[1982] The village of San José de Canelos, which may be considered as the centre of the cinnamon region, was determined by Mr. Spruce to be in lat. 1° 20 S., long. 77° 45 W., and at an altitude above the sea of 1590 feet. The forest of canelos, he tells us, has no definite boundaries; but the term is popularly assigned to all the upper region of the Pastasa and its tributaries, from a height of 4000 to 7000 feet on the slopes of the Andes, down to the Amazonian plain, and the confluence of the Bombonasa and Pastasa.

[1983] De Candolle, _Prodromus_, xv. sect. i. 167.

CORTEX BIBIRU.

_Cortex Nectandræ_; _Greenheart Bark_, _Bibiru_ or _Bebeeru Bark_.

=Botanical Origin=—_Nectandra Rodiæi_ Schomburgk—The Bibiru or Greenheart is a large forest tree,[1984] growing on rocky soils in British Guiana, twenty to fifty miles inland. It is found in abundance on the hill sides which skirt the rivers Essequibo, Cuyuni, Demerara, Pomeroon and Berbice. The tree attains a height of 80 to 90 feet, with an undivided erect trunk, furnishing an excellent timber which is ranked in England as one of the eight first-class woods for shipbuilding, and is to be had in beams of from 60 to 70 feet long.

=History=—In 1769 Bancroft, in his _History of Guiana_, called attention to the excellent timber afforded by the _Greenheart_ or _Sipeira_. About the year 1835 it became known that Hugh Rodie, a navy surgeon who had settled in Demerara some twenty years previously, had discovered an alkaloid of considerable efficacy as a febrifuge, in the bark of this tree.[1985] In 1843 this alkaloid, to which Rodie had given the name _Bebeerine_, was examined by Dr. Douglas Maclagan; and the following year the tree was described by Schomburgk under the name of _Nectandra Rodiæi_.[1986]

=Description=—Greenheart bark occurs in long heavy flat pieces, not unfrequently 4 inches broad and ³/₁₀ of an inch thick, externally of a light greyish brown, with the inner surface of a more uniform cinnamon hue and with strong longitudinal striæ. It is hard and brittle; the fracture coarse-grained, slightly foliaceous, and only fibrous in the inner layer. The grey suberous coat is always thin, often forming small warts, and leaving when removed longitudinal depressions analogous to the _digital furrows_ of Flat Calisaya Bark (p. 353), but mostly longer. Greenheart bark has a strong bitter taste, but is not aromatic. Its watery infusion is of a very pale cinnamon brown.

=Microscopic Structure=—The general features of this bark are very uniform, almost the whole tissue having been changed into thick-walled cells. Even the cells of the corky layer show secondary deposits; the primary envelope has entirely disappeared, and no transition from the suberous coat to liber is obvious.

The prevalent forms of the tissue are the stone-cells and very short liber-fibres, intersected by small medullary rays and crossed transversely by parenchyme or small prosenchyme cells with walls a little less thickened, so as to appear in a transverse section as irregular squares or groups. The only cells of a peculiar character are the sharp-pointed fibres of the inner liber, which are curiously saw-shaped, being provided with numerous protuberances and sinuosities.

[1984] Fig. in Bentley and Trimen’s _Medic. Plants_,