Cinnamon is quite frequently adulterated; poor qualities are substituted for good qualities or added to the better qualities. This applies especially to ground cinnamon.

Cinnamon is one of the richest of the spices. Its flavor is quite universally liked. It is employed in pies and other pastry, in drinks, in the preparation of hair oils and hair tonics, in confectionery, with pickles, etc. Medicinally it is employed as a corrective, in dysentery and in coughs. The excessive consumption of spices, cinnamon included, is a pernicious practice, as may be gathered from the opening quotation from Ravenscroft spices cause pathological changes in stomach, the liver and other glandular organs in particular.

Quite frequently those addicted to the use of spices are also addicted to the use of alcoholic drinks, and it is more than likely that the "jolly red nose" referred to was caused by the alcoholic stimulants rather than the spices.

The not fully matured flowers are known as cassia buds and are used as a spice. They are not unlike cloves in appearance. The roots of the various cinnamon trees yield camphor. The leaves yield volatile oil and the seeds a faintly aromatic fat.

Description of Plate: A: flowering twig; 1. diagram of flower; 2-3. flower; 4. stamen; 5. pistil; 6. fruit.

— Albert Schneider.