I' 



35"^ 



and wlietlier the Aniomum yerum of the ancient Greek writers 



referable to our Cardamom, feems alfo equally uncertain. 



IS 



The feeds of the Cardamomum minus, which are 



now 



generally 

 preferred for medicinal purpofes, are brought to us in their capfules, 



or hufk§, by which they are preferved ; for they foon lofe a part 



of their flavour when freed from this covering. " Their virtue is 



extraded not only by redified fpirit, but almoft completely by water 

 alfo ; with this difference, that the watery infufion is cloudy or 

 turbid, the fpirituous clear and tranfparent. Scarcely any of the 



aromatic feeds give out fo much of their warmth to wiitery menflrua. 



or abound fo much with gummy matter, which appears to be the 

 principle by which the aromatic part is made diffoluble in water : the 

 infufion is fo mucilaginous, even in a dilute flate, as hardly to pafs 

 through a filter." 



(( 



»> c 



■. t 



'\ 



In diilillation vsrith water, a confiderable quantity of effential oil 

 feparates from the watery fluid, of a pale yellowifh colour, in fmell 

 exadly refembling the Cardamoms, and of a very pungent tafte : the 

 remaining decodion is difagreeably bitterifh, and mucilaginous. On 

 infpifrating the tlndure made of redified fpirit, a part of the flavour 

 of the Cardamoms arifes with the fpirit ; but the greateft part remains 



"behind, concentrated in the extrad, which fmells moderately of the 

 feeds, and has a pungent aromatic tafte, very durable in the mouth, 

 and rather more grateful than that of the feeds in fubflance. 



Cardamom feeds, on being chev/ed, impart a glowing aromatic 

 warmth, and grateful pungency : they are fuppofed gently to flimulate 

 the flomach, and prove cordial, carminative, and antifpafmodic, but 

 without that, irritation and heat which many of the other fpicy 

 aromatics are apt to produce. We are told by Sonnerat, that the 

 Indians ufe it much, and believe it to flrengthen the flomach, and 

 afhfl digefliion. Phyficians however confider Cardamoms merely 

 as an aromatic, and prefcribe them in conjundion with other medi- 

 cines, which they are intended to corred or affifl. 



Simple and compound fpirituous lindures of thefe feeds are direded 

 by the Pharmacopoeias ; they are alfo ordered as a fpicy ingredient ia 

 jnany of the officinal compofitions. • 



\ 



^y 



r 



Lewis, Mat, Med. p. 194. 



CURCUMA 



/ 



