Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/857

ClNNA. 753 CINNAMON. man citizen friend to Augustus, who is drawn into H conspinu-y against his imperial master by his wife and friends. The conspiracy is discov- ered, anil Augustus pardons the offenders. CIN'NA, Li'ciis t'oK.NELirs. A Roman noble, one ul the i)rineipal supporters of the faction of Marius. SuMa, alter driving ilarius from Home, and before setting out on his expedition against Mithrid.ites, allowed Cinna to be elected to the coii-.ulship. Hut Cinna had no sooner en- tered upon that odice (li.c. 87) than he im- peached Silla, endeavored to advance the politi- cal status of the citi7,ens who had been added to Home after the Social War, and agitated for the recall of .Marius. The events that led to the re- turn of Marius are stated in the article Mariis (q.v.). After a cruel massacre of the Roman citizens, in which some of the most eminent statesmen and orators were slain, ilarius and Cinna declared themselves consuls. On the death of -Marius. which occurred within a few days of his usurpation. Cinna made Valerius Flaccus his colleague for that year, and Papirius Carbo for the two succeeding years. In n.c. 84 he pre])ared to meet Svilla, who was then on his way from the East to take vengeance upon his enemies, but was slain by his disaffected troops at Brun- disiuni. His daughter Cornelia married Julius Csesar. CINNABAB (Lat. ciiniabaris, from Gk. xii'- vdpapt, kinitabari, vermilion, from Pers. zinjarf. Hind, shtniijarf) . A name originally applied to the red 'dragon's blood' that came from India, and subsequently to other substances of a simi- lar color, init now exclusively used to designate the mercuric sulphide that crystallizes in the hexagonal system. The Romans were familiar with it, and both Pliny and Vitruvius described the use of an ore of mercurj' for amalgamating gold. It is found both crystallized and massive. and is bright red to brown in color. Cinnabar is the most important ore of mercury, and is mined in Almaden. Spain; Idria. Carniola. Aus- tria, and at Xew Almaden and elsewhere in Santa Clara County. Cal. It is also found in Southern Russia, China, Peru, New South Wales, Xew Zealand, and South Africa. At Sulphur Bank, Cal., and .Steamboat Springs, Xev., it is said to be still forming by solfataric action. The native ciiuiabar is not of sulTicient purity to be used directly as a pigment, but the artificial mercuric sulphide constitutes the vermilion (q.v.) of commerce. 'Hepatic cinnabar' is a liver-brown granular or compact variety of cin- nabar, which is found at Idria, Austria. CINNAM'IC (from cinnamon) ACID, CH^. CH:CH.t ()(Jll. A chemical compound of carlion, hydrogen, and oxygen. It cri-stallizes in color- less prisms, which are sparingly soluble in cold wajer, but dissolve readily in boiling water, alcohol, and ether. It melts at 13.3° C. and boils with or without decomposition, according to the manner in which it is heated, at about 300' C. It exists naturally in a free state in liquid storax, in the balsams of Tolu and Pern. and in gum ben-' 7oin. nnd is often deposited in large crystals from old samples 'if oil of cinnamon (cinnamic alde- hyde) and from cinnamon-water. It is always formed from oil of cinnamon when the latter is exposed to the action of the air. Cinnamic acid is usually made by heating henzaldehyde with acetic anhydride and dehydrated sodium acetate, its formation taking place according to the fol- lowing equation: C.,I1,CH0 + CHjCOOXa = lieuzaldehyde Sodium acetate CJI.CH : CHCOOXa + H,0 Chiuamlc add (Sodium salt) Water When fused with caustic potash, cinnamic acid breaks up into benzoic and acetic acids. When heated with lime, it splits up into styroleiie (a hydrocarbon) and carbonic acid. By the action of nitric acid it may be converted into ortho- nilro-cinnamic acid, which is related to indigo. Being an unsaturated compound, cinnamic acid readily forms with bromine, hydrochloric, hydro- bi'omic, and hydriodic acids, etc. The substance known as allo-ciimamic acid is stereo- isomeric with cinnamic acid, and may be readily converted into tlie latter. CINNAMON. The dried bark of several species of t'innamomum, belonging to the natural order Laurinea'. The leading species, Cinna- inomiiiii Zci/liinivuiii, indigenous to Ceylon, where it may be found growing at an altitude of 3000 feet above sea-level, has developed seven or eight well-marked varieties, some of which are ranked by botanists as species. From biblical times the forests supplied the market, but its cultivation was commenced by the Dutch. It is now grown in Bra/.il, the West Indies, Egypt, the district about TellicheTrj' (Malabar Coast), and Java, which last two ))laces most nearly approach Ceylon in the quality of their cinnamon; l)ut in none of which, owing to differences of soil, climate, methods of cultivation, or of exposure to sunlight, it produces bark of so high a quality as in its home. Cinnamon plantations are in less favor tiian formerly, colVee-culture being in the ascen- dent. In the wild, the tree attains the height of about 30 feet and a diameter of 12 to 18 inches, but when cultivated it is made to form stools of four or five stems. When the bark begins to turn brown, usually in less than two years, these steins, which may be eight feet tall and two inches in diameter at the base, are harvested and replaced by fresh ones. After being stripped of leaves and twigs, which latter yield 'cinnamon chips.' they are girdled transversely and slitted longitudinally, and the bark stripped off with a ntanin or knife similar in form to a nurservmian's budding-knife. Tlie jiicccs are tlu'ii laid tint aiul the outer bark removed by scraping or planing. As the bark dries it forms rolls called quills, the smaller of which are inserted into the larger, which when fuU.v dry are tied in bundles for sliip- ment. Cassia cinnamon, cultivated in India and southeastern China, is the bark of one or more un- determined species, variously named by botanists, Ciiinamoinuin tamnhj, Ciiinaiiwmum iiirrs. and CiiiiinnioniKm iiitidiim. These writers also con- sirlcr the species mentioned as coarse types of CiiiiraDiomuni Zri/Jainciim. formerly introduced into India from Ceylon and modified by main- land environment. Cassia cinnamon, which is exported to America from China and India, is not. as is often supposed, the same as Chinese cin- namon, none of which reaches our ports, because of the steady demand and high prices paid for it in Cliina. The Cassia variety is cultivated; the Chinese is not. hut is obtained from old trees growing, not in Chinese forests, but in those of . nam. These trees die. their liark being stripped from trunks and twigs. Saigon cinnamon is derived from an undetermined sjiecies of cinna-