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.
C. Culilawan is a native of Amboyna. The bark when dry is aromatic
like cloves, but less pungent and sweeter. It is used by the natives of
Amboyna as an internal medicine and as a stimulating linament.
C. Rubrium grows in Cochin China, and contains an essential oil,
smelling of cloves, but not so agreeable.
C. Sintoc is a tree about 80 ft. high, growing in the Neilgherry
mountains, India, and the higher mountains of Java. The bark is of the
same quality as the Amboyna cassia, but not so agreeable. It is more
bitter and powdery when chewed.
C. Xanthaneuron is a native of the Papuan islands and the Moluccas. The
bark when fresh is very fragrant, but it soon loses its quality.