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., 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.
Dark shadows fall upon the earth, Cool vapors rise in air, The screech-owl in the copse is heard, The bees are freed from care.
The butterfly has closed its wings, The lark has gone to rest; The nightingale in tree-top sings; To sleep the crow thinks best.
The lightning bug glows in the brake; The cricket chirps beneath the stone; The whip poor will is yet awake, The bull-frog calls in deep, low tone.
The flowers droop their weary heads, The leaves are nodding in the breeze; Young birdlings sleep in downy beds; Squirrels are resting in the trees.
The bats are flying low and high; The fishes rest in waters deep. The red has gone from western sky, All nature soon will be asleep. —Albert Schneider.
--Reconstructed the Table of Contents (originally on each issue’s cover).
--Created an eBook cover from elements within the issue.
--Retained copyright notice on the original book (this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.)
--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
--“Vulsmensis”, an error for “Vulsinensis”, was retained because the typo may have originated in the secondary source consulted by the author.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Birds and Nature Vol. 9 No. 2 [February 1901], by Various