CARYOPHYLLI. 



2<S1 



large island ot Jilolo, where, strange to say, the tree appears not to exist 

 in a wild state (Crawfurd). According to Rumphins, it was introduced 

 into Araboyna before the arrival of the Portuguese, and is still cultivated 

 there and in the neighbouring islands of Haruku, Saparua and 

 Nusalaut, also in Sumatra and Penang. It is likewise now found in 

 Malacca, the Mascarene Islands, the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on 

 the eastern coast of Africa, and the West Indies. 



The tree which is grown for the spice appears to be a cultivate d 

 variety, of lower stature and more aromatic than the wild form. 



History^ — The Greek name liapvS^vWoi' is supposed to refer to the 

 ball-like 2:>etals of the bud, which, as above described, might be compared 

 to a small nut (Kapvoi'). But the name is very variably written, as 

 yapov/i,(pov\, Kap^ov(pov\, yap6<paXa,'^ whence it becomes probable that 

 it is not really Greek, but an Asiatic word hellenized. 



Cloves have been long known to the Chinese. Mr. Mayers, late 

 Chinese Secretary to the Eritish Legation at Pekin, has communicated 

 to us the interesting fact that they are mentioned by several Chinese 

 writers as in use under the Han dynasty, B.C. 266 to a.d. 220, during 

 which period it was customary for the officers of the court to hold the 

 spice in the mouth before addressing the sovereign, in order that their 

 breath might have an agreeable odour.^ 



The Sanskrit name is "Lavanqa," whence the vernacular Hindustani 

 " Laung." *^ 



The jfirst European author to mention Caryophyllon is Pliny, who 

 describes it, after 'pe/p'per, as a grain resembling that spice but longer and 

 more brittle, produced in India, and imported for the sake of its odour. 

 It IS doubtful whether this description really refers to cloves. 

 . -^y the 4th century, cloves must have become well knoA\ni in Europe, 

 u credence can be placed in a remarkable record preserved by Vignoii,'* 

 which states that the emperor Constantino presented to St. Silvester, 

 bishop of Rome, a.d. 314-335, numerous vessels of gold and silver, 

 mcense and spices, among which last were 150 pounds of Cloves — a vast 

 quantity for the period. 



Kosmas Indicopleustes,^ in his Tofocjraj)\iaChrutiana^\x\ii(sri.2h(mi 

 A.D. 547, states in the account of Taprobane (Ceylon) that silk, aloes 

 Lyvvood], cloves (Kapuo0i;XAoj/) and sandal wood, besides other produc- 

 tions, are imported thither from China, and other emporia, and trans- 

 '^itted to distant regions. Alexander Trallianus," who was a friend of 

 ^osmos and a pupil of his father, prescribed in several receipts 5 or 8 

 cloves, Kapvof^vWov kokkovs, from which fact it may be inferred that at 

 j^is time (at Rome ?) cloves were a very rare article. A century 

 |aulua ^gineta' distinctly described cloves as CaryophjUon—rx 

 ^mia, veluti flores cujusdam arhoris . . odorati, acres. . . and much 

 ^ed for a condiment and in medicine. 



cLf^^n^^ history of the oil see our article 

 rvix Unnamon, chemical composition. 



^erin, I86G. 19. ^ 



3"'", i»0(j. 19. 

 At tliis period, the clove was calleJ Ki 



"Si! " ''^"'^ Tinghianrj, i.e. nail-sccnt or 

 of our "^^^ ^ ^^® ^ *^'^ ^^^' ^^ ^*^ century 



* Liher FontiJicall% sen de Gf>^t!s J?omn. 

 nonm Pmtificum, Komjp, i. (1724) 94. 

 ^ Migne, Patrologicc Curstts, series Gr?eca, 



IxJtxviii. (1860) 44C. 



6 Puschman's edition (quoted in the 

 aiipendix) i, 435. 5S0. Alexander dedi- 

 cated his work to his teacher, the father of 



Cosmas. 

 1 De re medka, lib, vji. c. 3. 



