The essential oil afforded by cardamoms is described on p. 1419 ; they are also capable of yielding as much as 10 per cent of a fatty oil.
Cassia (FR., Casse; GER., Cassia).—The bulk of the spice known as cassia, or " Chinese cinnamon " as it is frequently called on the Continent, is produced by an undescribed tree of S. China, chiefly growing in Loting and Luehpo (in Kwangtung province), Taiwao (in Kwangsi), and iu Kweichow, and found in about 19° N. lat. in the forests of the Le Ngum valley, on the left bank of the Mekong, near the Annam frontier. The tree is generally referred to as Cinnamornum [Cassia] aromaticum. It is said to grow with little attention in situations unsuited to other crops. The bark of the tree, forming " cassia lignea," occurs in small bundles about 1 ft. long and 1 lb. in weight, bound up with split bamboo. It has been stripped off the tree by running a knife along each side of the branch, and gradually loosening it ; it is then allowed to lio for 24 hours, undergoing a sort of fermentation which permits the epidermis to be easily scraped off, the bark soon drying into the form in which it appears in the market. The quills bear a close resem blance to cinnamon (eee pp. 1805-7), but are less uniform and less carefully prepared. They are thicker and harder tban cinnamon, and rarely consist of moro than two quills, one rolled in the other. Thera is no doubt that the powdered bark is very largely substituted for the higher priced cinnamon, diacrimination between them being a matter of some difficulty. The most reliable tests yet made known for Vick dibtinction are given by Hehner, in a paper read before the Society of Public Analysts, Nov. 19, 187'J, the main deductions from his observations being:—(t) The proportion of ash in cinnamon is pretty constant (4 59-4 •78 per cent.), cassia lig,nea giving much less (1 84), and casbia vcra nearly the same as cinnamon (say 4-08); (2) the amount of ash soluble in water is 25.04-28 -98 per cent. in whole cinnamon, about 18 in chips, 8-15 in cassia vera, and 26-40 in cassia lignea ; (3) the proportion of oxide of manganese is never more than 1 per cent. (0-13-0-97) in cinnamon, but over 1 (1 -13-1 -53) in °sable vers, and 3'65-5 -11 in cassia lignea ; (4) the oinnamon ash is always white, or nearly so, while both the cassia ashes are grey or brown, and yield abundance of chlorine on heating with hydrochloric acid. The young branches of the tree affording cassia lignea are collected and tied np in fagots, constituting cassia twigs, which are a large article of local commerce. The immatnre fruits of the same tree are believed to form the cassia buds of English
trade. Cassia vera or wild casaia is an inferior kind of cassia lignea. The approximate London market values of the spice are :—Lignea, 36-60s. a cwt.; vera, 22-16s.; bnds, 49-72s. Our imports of cassia bark (lignea) fluctuated from 1,408,021 lb. 1856, to 283,869 in 1861, 1,117.90.9 in 1865, 349,349 in 1866, and 873,991 in 1870 ; then, it has not been specified in the Returns. In 1878, London received 3,500,000 lb. Hamburg usually imports about 2,000,000 lb. annually dircot from China, besides large quantities indirectly. The shipments from Canton, whence it is chiefly exported, had grown from 13,800 pietas (of 134 lb.) in 1864, to 96,7781 piculs in 1879. In the same year, Pakhoi despatched 30181. worth ; and Shanghai, 124i pisals of buds, 3234i piculs of lignea, and 44671 piculs of twigs. The twigs are mainly an article of local consumption. In 1872, Canton shipped 456,533 lb. of them to other Chinese ports. In 1879, Hankow imported from foreign ports, 1387 piculs of lignea, 8773/.; and from native ports, 1281 pietas of buds, 381/., 1184 of lignea, 7479/., and 3990g of twigs, 34421. Thc trade in buds has decreased, the experts from Canton having fallen from 400 piculs in 1848, to 233 in 1866, and 165 in 1867. Our imports of them in 1870 were 29,321 lb.; Hamburg received 1324 cwt. in 1876.
Several other non-Cingaleae species of Cinnamomum afford kinds of cassia bark in their respective localities. In the Kbasia mountains of E. Bengal, the barks of three bpeeies (C. obtusifolium, C. pauciflorion, and C. Tamala), growing wild at 1000-4000 ft., have recently been collected and brought down to Caloutta. At least part of the cassia bark of S. India is produced by C. incrs, possibly only a variety of the true cinnamon (C. zeylanioum), found in India, Ceylon, Tavoy, and the Indian Archipelago ; the fruits are also gathered in some districts of S. India, but aro much inferior to Chinese buds. C. Tamala extends into Silhet, Sikkim, Nepal, Kumaon, and even Australia. The Archipelago produces two species, C. Cassia and C. Burmanni var. a. chinense, both said to be oultivated in Java. Padang (Sumatra) exported 6127 pietas (817,066 lb.) of the bark in 1871 ; and Cadiz imported 93,000 lb. from the Philippines in the same year.