Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 12]
and is used by the Inhabitants in Diet, as well as in Medicine.F
30.
Laurus cassia. Linn.
The Bark of this tree which nearly resembles Cinnamon is the Officinal Cassia Lignea, from whence the People in Trade frequently extract the Essential Oyl, which is sold for Oyl of Cinnamon.
Taylor White EsquireG in a paper of the Philosophical Transactions makes it highly probable by a narrow inspection of many Specimens from the Indies, and by a very accurate and candid piece of Botanical Criticism, that the Laurus Cinamomum Linn. And the Laurus Cassia Linn. are the same Species. These are distinguished in the Indies as in Europe, by the names of Cinnamon and Cassia. The former is the Cinnamon Tree of the Dutch in Ceylon. The latter grows in Sumatra and on the Malabar Coast, and is in Possession of the English at several of their Settlements. The Cinnamon produced by the latter is often imported to Britain, but is of a quality much inferior to that of the Dutch from Ceylon, to the great detriment of the English Trade. This has given rise to an Opinion, which the Dutch have industriously fostered, that they are produced from different Plants, and that the true Cinnamon Tree grows no where in the Indies except in Ceylon. That this Opinion is false, Mr. White endeavours to prove, and to shew that all the difference between the Dutch and English Cinnamon is owing to a different manner of curing and preserving them.
31.
Basella rubra. Linn.
The Berries of this Annual Plant dye an elegant Violet Colour liable indeed
___________________________________________________________________________________
F. Bontius. Animad. in Gare. p.45
G. Philos. trans. Vol. 50. An.1758 p.860