from the leaves is called oil of cloves, and oleum malabathri: that obtained from the fruit is extremely fragrant, of a thick consistence, and at Ceylon is made into candles, for the sole use of the king; and the bark of the root not only affords an aromatic essential oil, or what has been called oil of camphor, and of great estimation for its medical use, but also a species of camphor, which is much purer and whiter than that kept in the shops.

The spice, so well known to us by the name of cinnamon, is the inner bark of the tree; and those plants produce it in the most perfect state, which are about six or seven years old, but this must vary according to circumstances. Seba says, "Those which grow in the vallies, where the ground is a fine whitish sand, (and there are many such vallies in the island of Ceylon,) will in five years time be fit to have the bark taken off. Others, on the contrary, which stand in a wet slimy soil, must have seven or eight years time to grow before they are ripe enough." And the bark of those trees, which stand in a very dry soil, and much exposed to the sun, has often a bitterish taste, which Seba attributes to "the camphor being by the sun's rays rendered so thin and volatile, that it rises up and mixes with the juice of the tree." The bark, while on the trees, is first freed of its external greenish coat; it is then cut longitudinally, stripped from the trees, and dried in sand, till it becomes fit for the market, when it is of a reddish yellow, or pale rusty iron colour, very light, thin, and curling up into quills or canes, which are somewhat tough, and of a fibrous texture. It is frequently mixed with cassia, which is distinguished from the cinnamon by its taste being remarkably slimy. This bark is one of the most grateful of the aromatics; of a very fragrant smell, and a moderately pun gent, glowing, but not fiery taste, accompanied with considerable sweetness, and some degree of astringency. Its aromatic qualities are extracted by water in infusion, but more powerfully by it in distillation, and in both ways also by a proof spirit applied. Cinnamon is a very elegant and useful aromatic, more grateful both to the palate and stomach than most other substances of this class: by

If you taste the inner membrane of the bark when fresh taken off, you will find it of most exquisite sweetness, whereas the outward part of the bark differs but very little in taste from the common trees; but in drying, the oily and agreeable sweetness communicates and diffuses itself throughout the whole outward part." Seba, I. c.

its astringent quality, it likewise corroborates the viscera, and proves of great service in several kinds of alvine fluxes, and immoderate discharges from the uterus. The aromatic principle is an essential oil, which is obtained by distilling at once large quantities of this spice, or rather cassia, which is usually employed in these operations; and the oil thus separated is so extremely pungent, that on being applied to the skin it produces an eschar.

We have already observed that the cinnamon is one species of the laurus or bay-tree: and before we close the article we will remark, that there are few genera of plants that contain so many excellent, useful, and ornamental species. The whole number, indeed, amount to not less than thirty-four, all natives of warm climates; but the following are sufficient to justify our assertion.

1. Sweet bay. L. nobilis. Leaves lanceolate, veined, perennial; flowers four-cleft, diccous. There are four or five varieties from a difference of the leaf, which is broad, striped, narrow, or wavy.

2. Cinnamon-tree. L. Cinnamomum. Leaves three-nerved, ovate, oblong; the nerves disappearing towards the tip. The tree is covered with a smooth bark; the flowers are panicled. The liber or inner bark of the branches constitutes the cinnamon of the shops. The trunk of the tree grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet. It is a native of Ceylon.

3. Wild cinnamon. Cassia lignea tree. L. Cassia. Leaves triply nerved, lanceolate. Its fruit is the cassia lignea of the dispen satories. It is a native of Malabar.

4. Camphor-tree. L. Camphora. Leaves triply-nerved ; lanceovate, whitish underneath; flowers on long peduncles, white, and consisting of six petals, each producing a shining purple berry of the size of a pear, but top-shaped. It is a native of the woods of Japan, and exudes an inspissated resinous secretion, which is the camphor of the shops.

5. Alligator pear-tree. L. Persea. Leaves ovate, coriaceous, transversely veined, perennial; flower corymbed, of a dirty white or yellow colour, with an agreeable odour, diffusing itself to a considerable distance. The branches of this tree are soft and succu lent; its fruit is of the size and shape of a large pear, and has a delicious and grateful flavour. It is a native of the West Indies.

6. Benjamin-tree. L. Benzoin. Leaves nerveless, ovate, acute, at both ends, entire, annual, veined underneath; stamens from six

to nine; flowers yellow, not succeeded by berries in this country. The tree is a native of Virginia, rising from fifteen to twenty feet. It is sometimes confounded with the true Benzoin-tree, which is the Styrax Benzoin.

7. Sassafras-tree. L. Sassafras. Leaves entire, three lobed, downy underneath, from three to six inches long with small yel lowish flowers succeeded by black berries in its native country, which is Virginia. The wood affords the sassafras of the shops.

8. L. Castica. Leaves oval, wrinkled, perennial, reticulate with veins; flowers yellow and four-cleft. A poisonous tree of Chili.

9. Deciduous Bay. L. Estivalis. Leaves veined, oblong, point. ed, annual, wrinkled underneath; branches superaxillary. A native of Virginia, with small white flowers succeeded by red berries.

10. Indian Bay. L. Indica. Leaves veined, lanceolate, perennial, flat; branchlets tubercled with scars; flowers racemed: trunk upright, from twenty to thirty feet high, branching regularly; flowers whitish-green, succeeded in its native soil by large oval black berries. A native of Madeira.

The leaves and berries of L. nobilis, which is a native of Italy, but cultivated in our own gardens, possess various medicinal qua. lities, has a sweet fragrant smell, and an aromatic adstringeut taste. The laurus of honorary memory, the distinguished favourite of Apollo, may be naturally supposed to have had no inconsiderable fame as a medicine; but its pharmaceutic uses are so limited in the practice of the present day, that this dignified plant is now rarely employed.

[Watson. Phil. Trans. vol. xlvii. Woodville. Pantologia.

SECTION XVIII.

Ginger.

Amomum Zinziber.-LINN.

THE ginger plant is a native of the East Indies, and is said to grow in the greatest perfection on the coast of Malabar and in Bengal; but it is now plentifully cultivated in the warmer parts of America, and in the West India islands, from whence chiefly it is imported into Europe. In 1731 it was first introduced into this country by Mr. P. Miller, and is still carefully cultivated in the dry stoves of the curious. The flowers have a sweet fragrant smell, and the

leaves and stalks, especially when bruised, also emit a faint spicy odour, but the hot acrid aromatic taste is entirely confined to the

root.

"In Jamaica ginger attains its full height, and flowers about August or September, and fades about the close of the year. When the stalks are entirely withered, the roots are in a proper state for digging: this is generally performed in the months of January and February. After being dug, they are picked, cleansed, and gradually seethed, or scalded in boiling water; they are then spread out, and exposed every day to the sun, till sufficiently dried; and after being divided into parcels of about 100 lbs. weight each, they are packed in bags for the market: this is called the Black Ginger." White ginger is the root of the same plant, but instead of the roots being scalded, by which they acquire the dark appearance of the former, each root is picked, scraped, separately washed, and afterwards dried with great care; of course more than a double expense of labour is incurred, and the market price is proportionably greater. Black ginger loses part of its essential oil by being thus immersed in boiling water; on this account it is less useful for medical and other purposes than the white, which is always good when perfectly sound and free from worm-holes: but that imported from the East Indies is stronger than any we have from Jamaica. Ginger gives out its virtues perfectly to rectified spirit, and in a great measure to water. According to Lewis, its active principles are of a remarkably fixed nature; for a watery infusion of this root being boiled down to a thick consistence, dissolved afresh in a large quantity of water, and strongly boiled down again, the heat and pungency of the root still remained, though with little or nothing of its smell. Ginger is generally considered as an aromatic, less pungent and heating to the system than might be expected from its effects upon the organs of taste.

SECTION XIX.

[Woodville.

Pimento, All-spice, or Jamaica Pepper-Tree.

Myrtus Pimenta,-LINN.

THE tree that bears this aromatic berry is a handsome myrtle that grows above thirty feet in height, and two in circumference; the branches near the top are much divided, and thickly beset with

leaves, which by their continual verdure always give the tree a beautiful appearance; the bark is very smooth externally, and of a grey colour; the leaves vary in shape and in size, but are commonly about four inches long, veined, pointed, elliptical, and of a deep shining green colour; the flowers are produced in bunches, or panicles, and stand upon subdividing or trichotomous stalks, which usually terminate the branches; the calyx is cut into four roundish segments; the petals are also four, white, small, reflex, oval, and placed opposite to each other between the segments of the calyx ; the filaments are numerous, longer than the petals, spreading, of a greenish white colour, and rise from the calyx and upper part of the germen; the antheræ are roundish, and of a pale yellow colour; the style is smooth, simple, and erect; the stigma is obtuse; the germen becomes a round succulent berry, containing two kidney shaped flattish seeds. This tree is a native of New Spain and the West India islands. In Jamaica it grows very plentifully, and in June, July, and August puts forth its flowers, which, with every part of the tree, breathes an aromatic fragrance *.

The pimento-tree was first introduced and cultivated in this country by Mr. Philip Miller in 1739. Pimento, or the berries of this species of myrtle, are chiefly imported into England from Jamaica, and hence the name Jamaica pepper. It is also named all-spice, from its taste being supposed to resemble that of many different species mixed together.-When the berries arrive at their full growth, but before they begin to ripent, they are picked from the branches, and exposed to the sun for several days, till they are sufficiently dried; this operation is to be conducted with great care,

"The leaves and bark are full of aromatic particles, which make them (the planters) extremely cautious of fire in all Pimento Walks; where, if it should once catch, it runs with great fury." Browne, 1. c.

"Such of the berries as come to full maturity do, like many other seeds, lose that aromatic warmth for which they are esteemed, and acquire a taste perfectly like that of Juniper berries, which renders them a very agreeable food for the birds, the most industrious planters of these trees." Browne, l. c. "The berries when ripe are of a dark purple colour, and full of a sweet pulp, which the birds devour greedily, and muting the seeds, afterwards propagate these trees in all parts of the woods. It is thought that the seeds passing through them, in this manner, undergo some fermentation, which fits them better for vegetating than those gathered immediately from the tree; and I believe this is the fact." Long's Jamaica, vol. iii. p. 703.