236 Mr. Wuıte’s Description and Natural History 
stimulant power. "They are seldom given alone, and their com- 
bination with other stimulants must render their effects uncer- 
- tain. It is not unlikely that the high degree of acrimony ascribed 
to them by the natives may be comparative only. to their own 
bland constitutions, the more susceptible of stimulus from. Wes | 
simple diet, and moderate and uniform habits of living. 
It would-be an object, of considerable curiosity, if not some 
instruction, to trace the gradual introduction of Cardamorms into 
Europe, and their general adoption ‚as a luxury, or use as a me- 
dicine.:: We have reason to think that, they were little, if at all, 
known before the time of Augustus ; and the silence of the Bible 
relative to them, proves that both the spice and its virtues were 
alike unknown to the Jews, and. probably, their neighbouring 
nations. » This singular fate of a valuable. Juxury, and. the cir- 
cumstances connected with it, deserve further investigation. 
I need scarcely refer to the description of Rumphius, as it is 
so very imperfect in detail respecting both the botanical and the 
natural history of the plant; but he. disarms criticism and all 
. attempt at censure, by his usual candour in confessing that 
. it was taken from an exotic, which. did not produce a per- 
fect fructification, and of which the species is evidently di f 
ferent from that of Malabar,, and is most likely the Grana 
Paradisi... He talks of the roots being tuberous and having the 
flavour of the spice, whereas the subject of the present sketch 
is without these marks, the taste of the radical fibres. being 
nearly insipid, and though the leaves, on being. chewed, leave 
behind them on the throat and palate an acrimonious sensa- 
tion, no aroma analogous. to that of the spice is discernible. 
The accuracy of his information may also be suspected, when 
he states that Cardamom i is a name common all over Upper ] Hin- 
dostan. He may have been misled by. Armenian mefch nts, who 
had 
