es or cases, in long quills and flat pieces, something
like cinnamon. Large old cuttings root readily in the sand. It is
grown chiefly in the Bahama Islands, from whence we derive our
supplies.

By the Caribs, the ancient natives of the West Indies, and the
negroes, it was first employed as a condiment. In this country it is
chiefly used as an aromatic stimulant and tonic, ranking between
cinnamon and cloves. The bark possesses, however, no other quality
than its hot spicy flavor and strong aromatic odor when exposed to the
action of heat.

CASCARILLA BARK is obtained chiefly from the _Croton cascarilla_, a
small shrub growing at St. Domingo, the Bahama Islands, and the
Antilles. The chief portion comes from Eleuthera. In Hayti a pleasant
kind of tea is made from the leaves. Other species of the family
supply some of the bark of commerce.

From its strong and aromatic properties it has been found very
efficacious in all febrile diseases, and vies with the Jesuits' bark;
as a tonic it has very wholesome qualities, a pleasant and strong
bitterness, and was for some time held in considerable repute among
the faculty.

About twenty years ago, large shipments were made from the Bahamas.
It was found, upon adulteration with hops, to reduce the cost of that
article, and for the encouragement of the hop grower a prohibitory
impost was laid upon it by the Home Government, consequently it became
an unsaleable product.

The sea-side balsam, or sweet wood (_Croton Eleuteria_), from which
some cascarilla bark is obtained, grows in the Bahama Islands and
Jamaica, but almost all the bark imported comes from Nassau, New
Providence. In 1840, 15,000 lbs. were imported for home consumption.

This bark produces the combined effect of an aromatic and of a
moderately powerful tonic; but it does not possess any astringency. It
has been employed as a substitute for cinchona. When burned it gives
out a musky odor, and is often used in pastiles.

The value of this bark ranges, according to quality, from 17s. 6d. to
43 s. per cwt.

CLOVES.

The cloves of commerce are obtained from the flower buds of
_Caryophyllus aromaticus (Eugenia caryophyllata_), which was
originally a native of the Moluccas, but is now cultivated in several
parts of the East and West Indies. They have the form of a nail, and
when examined are seen to consist of the tubular calyx with a roundish
projection, formed by the unopened petals. It is a very handsome tr