The plant which produces the aromatic bark called cinnamon, is described under the word Laurus, in the article BOTANY of the Encyclopedia. The following particulars are extracted from a manuscript account of the cultivation and commerce of cinnamon, written in Ceylon in 1816, by Mr H. Marshall. The word cinnamon occurs in several passages of the English version of the Old Testament. Cinnamon was burnt on the funeral pile of Sylla and of Poppaea. The ancients got their cinnamon through Arabia, to which country it was brought probably from Ceylon.

In 1498, Vasco di Gama landed at Calicut, and from that time the merchandise of India, which had formerly been imported into Europe through the medium of the Venetians, took a different route, and was carried round the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese. The Portuguese were the first Europeans who established a factory in Ceylon. This they accomplished at Colombo, in the early part of the sixteenth century; notwithstanding the opposition of the Arabian merchants, who carried on the trade from Ceylon, and who did all in their power to prevent the establishment of the Portuguese. The Portuguese were driven from Ceylon by the Dutch in 1656, and the Dutch by the English in 1796.

The Dutch were the first who cultivated the cinnamon plant in Ceylon. They began to form plantations of cinnamon in 1765, and in 1778 Thunberg found these plantations extensive, and some of the plants or stools had already afforded bark three times. Before these plantations were formed, the Dutch were supplied with cinnamon bark from the cinnamon plants that grow spontaneously in the territory of the king of Candy, and by the sufferance of that chief. The part of the old Dutch territory between Negumbo and Matura is that which is best fitted for the cultivation of cinnamon.

Each cinnamon plant in the cinnamon gardens in Ceylon affords, on an average, four tenths of an ounce of bark every second year. But a cinnamon plant, in its most vigorous state, and carefully cultivated, produces 23 ounces of bark every second year.

Besides the bark got from the cinnamon gardens, a considerable quantity is also collected from spontaneous plants. A great part of the interior of Ceylon is covered with trees and brushwood. Where the declivities are gentle, the cultivation of dry grain is practised. For this purpose, the trees and brushwood are cut down, the trunks and branches are burnt, and the ashes spread on the ground; and on the soil thus prepared, dry grain is sown. The roots of the trees and bushes still remain in the ground. One crop only is taken, and in a few years the ground is again covered with trees and brushwood.

At the end of 15 or 20 years, the same spot is treated as before, for the purpose of yielding a crop of grain. A piece of ground cultivated in this way is called a china. Upon these chinas which have been recently cultivated, cinnamon plants of a proper age for yielding cinnamon bark are found growing spontaneously, and the bark of these cinnamon plants is collected. But the best cinnamon bark is obtained from the plants cultivated in the cinnamon gardens.

By the agreement made in 1802, the English Government of Ceylon engages to supply the East India Company annually with 400,000 lb. of cinnamon, at the rate of 3s. Sterling per lb. If any ship is found to have more than 20 lb. of cinnamon on board, without permission from the English government of Ceylon, or from the East India Company, the ship and cargo are liable to confiscation.

That there might not be produced a greater quantity than that required for the East India Company's investment, some of the cinnamon plantations were rooted out soon after the settlement came into the possession of the English. But it was afterwards found expedient to increase the produce of cinnamon; and for that purpose the cinnamon plantations were cultivated with increased attention.

The average annual exportation of cinnamon from Ceylon, from 1804 to 1806 inclusive, was 290,018 lb.; and from 1807 to 1814 inclusive, 370,913 lb. The annual average expense was L. 14,223, or about 9d. per lb. The cinnamon which has not the qualities proper for the European market is rejected. Part of this rejected cinnamon is sold to merchants at about 2s. per lb. It is shipped for the supply of the British settlements in India. That which goes to Bombay is reexported to Jedda and Massuah. Some of it reaches England under the name of Casia.

Average yearly quantity of cinnamon sold at the East India Company's sales, from 1803 to 1810 inclusive, 318,258 lb. which brought L. 95,825, about 6s. per lb.

According to Stavorinus, the average quantity sold by the Dutch, from 1775 to 1779, was 370,000 which brought L. 203,500, about 11s. per lb.

The average of the Dutch sales from 1785 to Canton in 1791 is greater, and the price is nearly double the average English price from 1803 to 1810. The large quantity of cinnamon brought from Canton is probably the cause of the diminution in quantity, and the fall in price of the Ceylon cinnamon. The cinnamon from Canton is generally inferior in aromatic quality, but it is brought to market at a lower price than the Ceylon cinnamon. It is sold under the name of casia. It is imported into Canton from the Soooloo islands, and from Cochin-China. It does not appear that any cinnamon is produced in China.

The third quality of Ceylon cinnamon is considered equal to that brought from China, and could probably be supplied at as low a price. This quality of cinnamon might be collected in Ceylon to a great amount, and a large importation of it into the London market, sold at a moderate profit, would probably lessen the demand for Canton cinnamon.

Cinnamon grows on the Malabar coast, and was collected there in the dominion of the king of Travancore by the Dutch and the English. Of this trade, an account is given by Fra Paolo de San Bartholomeo, who resided in that country in 1776. Cinnamon is also collected in Sumatra. Bruce says, that it grows in the country between Cape Gardefan and Melinda.

In 1804, a considerable quantity of essential oil of cinnamon was distilled from the rejected cinnamon in Ceylon; and latterly (1816) 3000 ounces have been distilled, part of which was sent to England. But it is more profitable to sell the rejected cinnamon, than to distil the oil from it.

Cassia-buds are the receptacle of the fructification of the cinnamon plant. They are imported into Europe chiefly from Canton. They might be collected abundantly in Ceylon, but this has not hitherto been done.