By the Caribs, the ancient natives of the West Indies, and the negroes, it was first employed as a condiment.  In this country it is chiefly used as an aromatic stimulant and tonic, ranking between cinnamon and cloves.  The bark possesses, however, no other quality than its hot spicy flavor and strong aromatic odor when exposed to the action of heat.

CASCARILLA BARK is obtained chiefly from the Croton cascarilla, a small shrub growing at St. Domingo, the Bahama Islands, and the Antilles.  The chief portion comes from Eleuthera.  In Hayti a pleasant kind of tea is made from the leaves.  Other species of the family supply some of the bark of commerce.

From its strong and aromatic properties it has been found very efficacious in all febrile diseases, and vies with the Jesuits’ bark; as a tonic it has very wholesome qualities, a pleasant and strong bitterness, and was for some time held in considerable repute among the faculty.

About twenty years ago, large shipments were made from the Bahamas.  It was found, upon adulteration with hops, to reduce the cost of that article, and for the encouragement of the hop grower a prohibitory impost was laid upon it by the Home Government, consequently it became an unsaleable product.

The sea-side balsam, or sweet wood (Croton Eleuteria), from which some cascarilla bark is obtained, grows in the Bahama Islands and Jamaica, but almost all the bark imported comes from Nassau, New Providence.  In 1840, 15,000 lbs. were imported for home consumption.

This bark produces the combined effect of an aromatic and of a moderately powerful tonic; but it does not possess any astringency.  It has been employed as a substitute for cinchona.  When burned it gives out a musky odor, and is often used in pastiles.

The value of this bark ranges, according to quality, from 17s. 6d. to 43 s. per cwt.

CLOVES.

The cloves of commerce are obtained from the flower buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus (Eugenia caryophyllata), which was originally a native of the Moluccas, but is now cultivated in several parts of the East and West Indies.  They have the form of a nail, and when examined are seen to consist of the tubular calyx with a roundish projection, formed by the unopened petals.  It is a very handsome tree, growing to the height of about twenty feet.  The trunk is straight, and rises four or five feet before it throws out branches.  The bark is smooth, thin, of a grey color, and the wood of the trunk too hard for ordinary cabinet work.