PIMENTO. OD 



some 6,000 feet above the sea level ; the harvest there is gathered 

 later than in the low-lying districts near the coast. After the 

 drying process is completed the pimento is packed in bags, very 

 much in the same way as coffee, and transported to the coast for 

 shipment. The principal port of shipment is Kingston, but large 

 quantities of the crop are shipped from various other ports along 

 the coast. The total export of pimento from Jamaica in the year 

 1889 was, 46,179 cwt., valued at £-47,842, of which the United 

 Kingdom took 21,267 cwt. 



In the dried state pimento is a small, dry, light, roundish fruit, 

 which varies somewhat in diameter, but is on an average about the 

 size of a small pea. It is crowned with the remains of the calyx 

 in the form commonly of a slightly elevated scar-like ring ; and 

 rarely at the other extremity of the fruit there is a short stalk 

 attached. Pimento consists of a brittle, somewhat woody shell or 

 pericarp, of a dark brown colour externally, and is more or less 

 rough on its surface from the presence of small receptacles of oil ; 

 and of two dark, brownish-black somewdiat compressed, kidney- 

 shaped seeds, each of wdiich is contained in a separate cell. The 

 aromatic properties are more evident in the shell than in the seed. 



Pimento berries yield, un distillation, from 3 to 4^ per cent, of 

 volatile oil,'composed mainly of engenol, and very closely agreeing, 

 in all respects but its odour, with oil of cloves ; the difference in 

 odour is attributed to a slight difference in the nature of the 

 sesquiterpene accompanying the engenol. The sp. gr. of this oil is 

 1*04 to l-Oo at 15° C. The yield of oil from the leaves is nearly 

 1 per cent. 



The investigations of Dragendorff * prove that the miscibility of 

 pure oil of pimento in alcohol of various strengths is as follows : — 



1 cubic centimetre is soluble in 87per cent. alcohol in allproportions, 

 „ „ in 1*1 c.c. of 73 per cent, alcohol, 



„ „ in 1*5 c.c. of 69 per cent, alcohol, 



„ „ in 2-8 c.c. of 63 per cent, alcohol, 



therefore approximating in solubility to oil of cloves, and the 

 admixture of copaiba oil is easily detected. (The strength of the 

 spirit used in the various experiments is according to Tralle's 

 alcoholometer, which gives the percentage volume for the temper- 

 ature of 60° P.). 



* Pliarm. Journ. [3], vi. p. 544. 



