19S MYBISTICE^. 



'Recently, the arillus^ under tlie name of ^Bombay mace^ has 

 made its appearance in tlae European markets, for the purpose 

 of adulterating true mace. (Confer. A. Tschireh in FhavmacenL 

 Zcifimg, 1881, No. 74.) In Bombay it is used as a spice. 



Description. — M. malahanca bears an oblong, tawny, 

 tairy fruit, 2| to 3 inches long, witL a lucumose arillus, the 

 lobes of which are twisted and folded into a cone at the top, 

 and are longer and thinner than those- of true- mace, ihe 

 arillus is of a dark brownish-red colour^ and on the inside has 

 adhering to it a thin papery membrance of a light-brown colour. 

 The shell is hard and brittle, and contains an elongated kernel 

 resembling a nutmeg, and from li to 2 inches long; when cut 

 in two it is seen to have the same ruminated structure, but the 

 odour is fruity, with hardly any aroma. Similarly, the mace 

 is deficient in odour and flavour* 



Microscojnc structure. — The epidermal cells of the arillus are 

 radially elongated, narrow, and twice as high as those of true 

 mace, which are tangentially elongated ; their w^alls show the 

 cellulose reaction with iodine and sulphuric acid, and with chlo- 

 ride of zinc and iodine swell and turn faintly blue. The oi 



cells are very numerous, located near the epidermis on 



both 



sides, often close together in groups of two or three, oval la 

 shape, somewhat i^dially elongated, and contain a dark-yello\^j 

 usually, resinified oil, frequently alsa a brownish resin. {A- 

 Tschireh.) The external covering of the seed is formed by the 

 compressed cells of the endopleura, and is thicker than that oi 

 the true nutmeg ; the processes which penetrate the albiuu^^ 

 are composed of very large cells loaded with a viscid reddish- 

 brown substance, which has an astringent and somewhat aoid 

 taste. The albumen is composed of large cells loaded with 

 starch ; some of the cells and their contents are of a reddish- 

 brown colour. There is no crystalline fat visible. 



Toxicology/.— ll^xmphi^xs relates that in 1683 a minister of 

 Amboyna was given by his wife three roasted nuts, in mistake 

 for nutmegs, to cure a chronic diarrhoea ; in a few hours he 

 became giddy, making strange gestures and talking wildly, nor 



