That cinnamon and cassia were extremely analogus is proved by the remark of the Greek physician Galen (130–200 A. D.): “The finest cassia differs so little from the lowest quality of cinnamon, that the first may be substituted for the second, provided a double quantity of it were used.” With this brief historical sketch we will now endeavor to point out the differences between the two barks.
In the first place the word “cinnamon” refers solely to the cinnamon zeylanicium plant of Ceylon, where it is found growing wild, and was first brot under cultivation by De Koke in 1770. Here again, as with cloves, mace, etc., the Dutch tried to monopolize the trade. The giving away of a plant was punishable by flogging and the destruction of a plant involved the penalty of death. The tree grows to the height of 20 or 30 ft., having a trunk 12 to 18 inches in diameter; the leaves are of a thick leathery texture, 4 to 6 inches long, very smooth and shining on the upper surface, glaucous with prominent netted veins on the under side, and are traversed by 3 or 5 ribs. The flowers are greenish-white and appear in clusters of threes. The fruit is an oval berry, not unlike an acorn in shape and color. The tree flowers in January and the fruit ripens in August. When the branches are peeled the finest sticks are said to be derived from the liber of the middle-sized branches, an inferior sort from the younger shoots, and that which is procured from the thickest branches is considered of little worth. The peeling commences in May and lasts until November. The shoots or branches, usually about ½-inch to ¾-inch in diameter and from 3 to 5 ft. long, are cut off with a curved pruning knife, tied up in bundles and carried to the peeling sheds. The bark is removed with a small, round-pointed knife, with a small projecting rib or cutter placed at right angles to the edge of the knife. With this knife the bark is split lengthwise of the stock. It is then carefully loosened from the wood for a short distance on either side of the slit. A similar incision is made on the opposite side and the bark is finally removed. The bark is then put in piles, covered with scrapings and matting and left for about two days, during which time a sort of fermentation takes place, which greatly facilitates the separation of the outer part of the bark from the cuticle and epidermis, which is carefully done by scraping with a small, curved knife, having a slightly serrated edge. This process is called piping. The piper sorts the bark as he scrapes it. He selects a slip suitable for the outer layer, about 3 ft. long, and packs within it 6 or 8 other pieces, all about the thickness of vellum paper—a mark which always distinguishes Ceylon cinnamon from cassia. They are then rolled up together and exposed to the sun to dry. It now resembles a tight roll of paper, the best quality being firm and compact, of a golden yellow color, smooth on both outer and inner surfaces. The cheaper grades are not so carefully made, having many short pieces in the pipes or quills and not so much attention is paid to obtain uniform size and color. At Colombo it is sorted into three kinds by government inspectors. The two finest kinds are exported, the third with the broken pieces being reserved for obtaining oil of cinnamon. It is formed in bales about 90 lbs. each and wrapped in double cloths made of hemp, and not, as stated by some, of the cocoa tree.
Guava bark, soaked in the water left after the distillation of cinnamon oil and rubbed over with cinnamon oil, is sometimes placed inside good cinnamon quills and then it takes a man of Solomon’s wisdom to detect the fraud.
Cassia
Cassia, under the name of Kwei, is mentioned in the earliest Chinese herbal—that of the Emperor Shena-ming, who reigned about 2700 B. C.; in the ancient Chinese classics, and in Rh-ya an herbal dating from 1200 B. C. In the Hai-yao-pen-ts’ao, written in the eighth 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 connection 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. The accounts given by Dioscondes, Ptolemy and the author of the Periphes of the Erythrean Sea, that cinnamon and cassia were obtained from Arabia and eastern Africa; and we further know that the importers were Phoenicians who traded by Egypt and the Red Sea with Arabia, and it was imported hither from southern China.
Cassia, according to Marshall and others, is the bark of the old branches and trunks of the cinnamon zeylanicium, while others assert that it is the bark of an entirely different species, namely, cinnamon cassia, a native of China, but also grown in Java. This view is the more probable, as no cassia is exported from Ceylon, it almost all coming from Canton. Regents have also very different effects on the infusion and oil of these two barks, which conclusively shows that they are obtained from different species. Cassia comes in bales, 2 to 4 lbs., bound by strips from the bark of some other tree. The pipes or quills are thicker and rolled once or twice, and never contain thinner pieces within; the diameter of the bark is much thicker, harder, and not as carefully scraped. The color is a deeper browinsh-fawn color. The taste is more acridly aromatic, pungent sweet, at the same time more powerfully astringent yet muclignious. Cassia is often substituted for cinnamon. It is adulterated with cassia lignea, the bark of a degenerate variety of cinnamon zeylanicium growing in Malabar, Penang and Silhet.
Other varieties of cassia are: Saigon cassia, the bark of an unknown species which appeared in commerce about 1875. The outer bark is not removed, has a gray or grayish-brown color, is covered externally with whitish blotches, warts or wrinkles.
C. Aromaticum is believed to be the cinnamon of China and Cochin China, growing in the provinces of Kwantung and Kwangsi. The leaves are very much larger than the Ceylon tree, hang down from the stalks and have never more than three ribs. This is the species that yields the cassia buds.
C. Tamala is a native of India, wild in Derwanee and Gongachora. It is cultivated in the gardens of Rungpoor. The dried leaves have an aromatic taste.
C. Loureirii grows in the lofty mountains of Cochin China, to the west towards Laos, Japan. The flowers of cassia are produced by this species. The old and young branches are worthless, but the middle-sized shoots produce a bark that is superior to that of Ceylon. None of it is exported.