Commercial. - Cinnamon was a very early favorite spice, being brought by Arabian navigators to the Phoenicians, Grecians, and Romans, the Chinese cassia being used first, the Ceylon not until 1275. While there are about 50 species growing wild, only a few yield the commercial bark - this resulting mostly from cultivated plants. At one time Ceylon excelled in the industry, but there coffee largely has replaced it, thus restricting to the neighborhood of Colombo the principal cinnamon gardens; however, S. China has become equally interested in the cultivation and as a result produces much valuable bark. There are two important varieties: 1, Saigon, Annam Cassia (Cinnamon), thought to be entirely from wild trees (C. Lourei'rii, after Loureio, celebrated botanist, and other species), growing in the mountainous districts of Annam. While chips and thick trunk-bark sometimes reach us, most is from branches and small stems, all being of good quality - sweet, aromatic, almost void of astringency and bitterness; some consider it high-grade cassia, but its own specific structure, area of growth, and absence of objectionable qualities in the corky layer seem to preclude such a possibility; certainly it is related more closely to cassia than to Ceylon, and may be an inferior grade (from one or more species distinct from C. Cassia) of that distinctive Chinese cinnamon so highly prized by the natives; 2, Ceylon (Cinnamon), considered best, being nearly all from cultivated plants through the process of pollarding, so that in 2-3 years many slender stems are produced with bark devoid of astringent and corky layer, this latter

Fig. 142. - Cinnamomum: a, b, c, from China; d, e, from Ceylon.

not yet having had time to form. The cultivation of cinnamon begins with the planting of seeds in prepared soil, 4-5 in each hill, from which, in 5-6 years, the straight stems due to continued pruning, 1.5-3 M. (5-10°) high, are cut down with catty-knives, and by coppicing a new crop of twigs is formed every 2-3 years. The barking (March-June, after which delicacy and aroma lessen) takes place under cover by making 2 equidistant longitudinal incisions and transverse ones every few feet apart, then teasing off easily with a mama-knife (Saigon); the bark may now be allowed to wilt or undergo partial fermentation for several days, becoming soft and pliable, thus facilitating epidermal separation, when it is laid concave downward and scraped to the layer of stone cells, thereby rejecting the bitter or astringent portion (Ceylon); congeries of quills are formed, which when dried (first by shade, then by sun) are made into 30-pound (14 Kg.) bundles and marketed as to quality in firsts, seconds, thirds, the inferior grades being distilled for oil; or each quill is dried separately (Saigon) and tied into bundles for exportation. The bark is imported loose or in bundles with split bamboo bands from Canton, Hong Kong (Saigon), Calcutta, Colombo.

Constituents. - Volatile oil .5-2 p. c., tannin 3-5 p. c, resin, bitter principle, sugar, mannite, starch, mucilage, ash 6 p. c, of which 2 p. c. is insoluble in diluted hydrochloric acid.

Oleum Cassiae. Oil of Cinnamon, official. - (Syn., 01. Cass., Oleum Cinnamomi, U. S. P. 1900, Cassia Oil, Oleum Cinnamomi Cassiae, Oil of Chinese Cinnamon; Fr. Essence (Huile) de Cannelle de Chine; Ger. Zimtol, Zimtkassienol.) This volatile oil distilled from the leaves and waste bark of Cinnamomum Cassia (Chinese), and rectified by steam distillation, is a yellowish, brownish liquid, darker and thicker by age and exposure, characteristic odor and taste of cinnamon, sp. gr. 1.055 soluble in 2 vols. of 70 p. c. alcohol, optically almost inactive; contains at least 80 p. c. of cinnamic aldehyde, C8H7CHO (oxidizing into resin and cinnamic acid) upon which the value depends, also cinnamyl acetate, C9H9C2H3O2 (liquid of unpleasant acrid taste), and phenyl-propyl acetate, orthocumaric aldehyde, cinnamic acid, C9H8O2; this latter is not in fresh oil, and after being formed becomes, by further oxidation, benzoic acid. Tests: 1. Shake oil (2) with purified petroleum benzin (5-10) - decanted liquid is colorless and gives no green color when shaken with equal volume of (1 in 1000) copper acetate solution (abs. of rosin). Should be kept cool, dark, in well-stoppered, amber-colored bottles. The Ger. P. and U. S. P. recognize only the oil of Chinese cinnamon (cassia), while the Br. P. and Fr. Codex that of Ceylon cinnamon; the former is more abundant and cheaper, the latter of finer flavor and more delicate aroma, containing besides cinnamic aldehyde, some eugenol and phellandrene. Dose, j-5 (.06-.3 Ml. (Cc.)).

Preparations. - I. Saigon Bark: 1. Tinctura Cinnamomi. Tincture of Cinnamon. (Syn., Tr. Cinnam.; Fr. Teinture de Cannelle; Ger. Zimttinktur.)

Manufacture: 20 p. c. Similar to Tinctura Veratri Viridis, page 101; menstruum: glvcerin 7.5 Ml. (Cc.), alcohol 67.5 Ml. (Cc.), water 25 Ml. (Cc.). Dose, 3ss-2 (2-8 Ml. (Cc.)).

2. Pulvis Aromaticus. Aromatic Powder. (Syn., Pulv. Arom.; Br. Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus, Compound Powder of Cinnamon; Fr. Poudre aromatique, Poudres des (Epices) Aromates; Ger. Aro-matisches Pulver, Gewurzpulver.)

Manufacture: 35 p. c. Triturate cardamom seed (deprived of pericarp) 15 Gm., myristica 15 Gm., Saigon cinnamon 35 Gm., until fine powder, add Jamaica ginger 35 Gm., mix thoroughly. It is light reddish-brown, strong, distinctive aromatic odor; microscopically - 15 starch grains (ginger), stone cells, sclerenchymatous fibres, crystals of calcium oxalate. Dose, gr. 10-30 (.6-2 Gm.).

Preps.: 1. Fluidextractum Aromaticum. Aromatic Fluidextract. (Syn., Fldext. Aromat., Aromatic Fluid Extract, Extractum Aromaticum Fluidum; Fr. Extrait liquide aromatique des Aromates; Ger. (Gewurz) Aromatisches fluidextrakt.) Manufacture: Similar to Fluidextractum Aconiti, page 202; menstruum: alcohol. Dose, v-30 (.6-2 Ml. (Cc.)). 3. Tinctura Cardamomi Composita, 2.5 p. c. 4. Tinctura Gambir Composita, 2.5 p. c. 5. Tinctura Lavandulae Composita, 2 p. c. 6. Tinctura Rhei Aromatica, 4 p. c.

II. Oil: 1. Aqua Cinnamomi. Cinnamon Water. (Syn., Aq. Cinnam.; Fr. Eau de Cannelle; Ger. (Einfaches) Zimtwasser.)

Manufacture: 1/5 p. c. Similar to Aquae Aromaticae; triturate oil .2

Ml. (Cc.) with purified talc 1.5 Gm., recently boiled distilled water q. s. 100 Ml. (Cc.), filter until clear. Dose, ℥ss-l (15-30 Ml. (Cc.)).

Preps.: 1. Infusum Digitalis (1.5 p. c.) - 15 p. c. 2. Mistura

Cretae, 40 p. c.

2. Spiritus Cinnamomi. Spirit of Cinnamon. (Syn., Sp. Cinnam.; Fr. Alcoolat de Cannelle; Ger. Zimtspiritus.)

Manufacture: 10 p. c. Dissolve oil 10 Ml. (Cc.) in alcohol q. s. 100 Ml. (Cc.). Dose, v-30 (.3-2 Ml. (Cc.)). Prep.: 1. Syrupus Rhei, 2/5 p. c.

3. Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, 1/10 P. c.

Unoff. Preps.: Bark: Fluidextract, dose, v-30 (.3-2 Ml. (Cc.)). Infusion, dose, ℥j-2 (30-60 Ml. (Cc.)). Syrup (bark 10, water 50, sugar 60); for flavoring.

Properties. - Carminative, stomachic, stimulant, astringent, haemostatic, aromatic, antispasmodic, germicide. The oil has no astringency.

Uses. - Diarrhoea, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, menorrhagia, parturient, to correct griping medicines; for flavoring preparations, chocolate, etc.