f Ceylon, while the cassias are from Bengal and China. In this
country there is more cassia used than cinnamon--cinnamon being rarely
found except in drug stores. Cassia bark is much thicker than cinnamon
bark. The ground spice contains about 1.5 per cent volatile oil and the
same amount of fixed oil, 4 per cent of ash, and some fiber, nitrogenous
matter, and starch. Cereals, cedar sawdust, ground nutshells, oil meal,
and cracker crumbs are the chief adulterants.

210. Cloves.--Cloves are the flower buds of an evergreen tree that
grows in the tropics. These are picked by hand and dried in the sun. In
the order of value, Penang, Sumatra, Amboyna, and Zanzibar furnish the
chief varieties. Cloves rarely contain more than 8 per cent ash, or less
than 10 per cent volatile oil and 4 per cent fixed oil, and 16 to 20 per
cent of tannin-yielding bodies. No starch is present. The chief
adulterants of ground cloves are spent cloves, allspice, and ground
nutshells. Clove stems are also sometimes used and may be detected by a
microscopical examination, since they contain many thick-walled cells
and much fibrous tissue.

211. Allspice.--Allspice, or pimento, is the fruit of an evergreen
tree common in the West Indies. It is a small, dry, globular berry,
two-celled, each cell having a single seed. Allspice contains about 2.5
per cent volatile oil, 4 per cent fixed oil, and 4.5 per cent ash.
Because of its cheapness, it is not generally adulterated, cereal
starches being the most common adulterants.

212. Nutmeg.--Nutmeg is the interior kernel of the fruit of a tree
growing in the East Indies. The fruit resembles a small pear. A fleshy
mantle of crimson color, which is mace, envelopes the seed. Nutmeg
contains about 2.2 per cent ash, 2.5 to 5 per cent volatile oil, and 25
to 35 per cent fixed oil. Mace has practically the same composition.
Extensive adulteration is seldom practiced. The white coating on the
surface of the nutmeg is lime, used to prevent sprouting of the germ.

CHAPTER XIV

TEA, COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, AND COCOA

[Illustration: FIG. 53.--TEA LEAF. (After
WINTON.)]

213. Tea is the prepared leaf of an evergreen shrub or small tree
cultivated chiefly in China and Japan. There are two varieties of
plants. The Assamese, which requires a very moist, hot climate, yields
in India and Ceylon about 400 pounds per acre, and may produce as high
as 1000 pounds. From this plant a number of flushes or pickings are
secured