large, spreading, horizontal branches. The peelers take off the two
barks together, and separating the rough outer one, which is of no
value, they lay the inner bark to dry, which rolls up and becomes the
_Cassia lignea_ of commerce. It resembles cinnamon in taste, smell and
appearance. The best is imported from China, either direct from
Canton, or through Singapore, in small tubes or quills, sometimes the
thickness of the ordinary pipes of cinnamon and of the same length;
but usually they are shorter and thicker, and the bark itself coarser.
It is of a tolerably smooth surface and brownish color, with some cast
of red, but much less so than cinnamon. The exports from China are
said to be about five million pounds annually; price about 32s. per
cwt. In 1850, 6,509 piculs of cassia lignea (nearly one million
pounds), valued at 87,850 dollars, were shipped from the single port
of Canton. Cassia bark is of a less fibrous texture, and more brittle,
and it is also distinguished from cinnamon by a want of pungency, and
by being of a mucilaginous or gelatinous quality.

CASSIA BUDS are the dried flower buds (perianth and ovary) of the
cassia tree, and are mostly brought from China. They bear some
resemblance to a clove, but are smaller, and when fresh have a rich
cinnamon flavor. They should be chosen round, fresh, and free from
stalk and dirt. They are used chiefly in confectionery, and have the
flavor and pungency of cassia. The exports from Canton in 1844 were
21,500 lbs.; in 1850, 44,140 lbs., valued at 7,400 dollars. The
average quantity of cassia buds imported into the United Kingdom, in
each of the thirteen years ending with 1842, was 40,231 lbs.; the
average quantity entered for home consumption in these years was 6,610
lbs., and the average annual amount of duty received was L312.

Cassia bark yields a yellow volatile oil, called oil of cassia, the
finer kind of which differs but little in its properties from that of
cinnamon, for which it is generally substituted; it has a specific
gravity of 1071. The best is manufactured in China, where the wood,
bark, leaves and oil are all in request. The cassia oil is rated at
150 dollars per picul, and the trade in this article reaches about
250,000 dollars.

CANELLA ALBA, or wild cinnamon, is a valuable and ornamental tree,
growing about fifteen feet high, which is cultivated in South America
and the West Indies for its pungent bark, which is shipped to this
country in bal