617 



CARDAMOM. 



CARDINAL. 



018 



less agreeable than that of the common watercress, which is dissipated 

 The chief constituents are a bitter extractive and a volatile 

 oil. To these it is indebted for such medical powers as it possesses, 

 which are very slight, altogether insufficient to entitle it to a place in 

 Pharmacopoeia. It is said to be stimulating, diuretic, and anti- 

 spasmodic ; and hence of service in hysteria, chorea, and epilepsy. In 

 some of the slighter cases of these, dependent on irritation of the 

 stmal canal, from imperfectly digested food, unhealthy secretions, or 

 rorms, it may, along with purgatives, bitters, and exercise, be of some 

 benefit. It is however as an anti-scorbutic herb that it is best 

 entitled to notice. The health of many persons is low in early spring 

 from the want of green vegetables during winter, and the blood 

 passes into the condition which obtains in persons suffering from 

 scurvy. The use of fresh vegetables, such as this and watercresses, 

 with fruits and lemon- juice, will speedily remove this state. 



(Lecture of Dr. Budd on Scurry, in London Medical Gazette, vol. 

 xxxii. p. 713.) 



CARDAMOM, Essential Oil of. This oil is obtained by distilling 

 cardamom seeds with water. It is colourless, possessing a strong 

 aromatic taste, and an agreeable odour. Its specific gravity is '943. 

 It has the same composition as camphen, namely, C 10 H 8 . 



CARDAMOMS are the aromatic capsules and the seeds of different 

 species of several genera of plants formed out of the original genus 

 Amomum of Linnaeus. They are all natives of the hotter parts of the 

 world, the respective kinds being distinguished in commerce either by 

 their form, or designated by the names of the countries or provinces 

 whence they are supposed to come. The genus Eletturia (Rheede 

 Matonia of Smith, in Rees' ' Cyclop.') yields the only kind of carda- 

 moms admitted into the present (edition 1851) ' London Pharmacopoeia.' 

 Besides these, several are known in Continental commerce under the 

 name Amomum, which have neither the characters nor qualities of true 

 cardamoms. Thus, the Siwn Amomum, the Ifed;/e Jlonewort, or Bastard 

 Stone Parsley of our hedges, called German Amomum, yields a fruit 

 (erroneously called need) which, when dry, is aromatic, pungent, and 

 pleasant, but when fresh is more calculated to disgust and repel than 

 attract. Likewise the fruit or unripe berries of the Eugenia (Myrtua) , 

 pimento berries, allspice, or Jamaica pepper, are called in Germany 

 Semen Amomi, or accce Amomi. But as they are aromatic stimulants, 

 like cardamoms, any possible confusion of them is of less consequence. 

 In giving an account of the appearances and supposed sources of carda- 

 moms, the authority most to be depended on is the late Dr. Pereira, 

 who has taken great pains in investigating this subject. (See his 

 ' Elements of Materia Medica,' last ed., 1850, p. 1129, and various 

 papers in earlier volumes of the 'Journal of the Pharmaceutical 

 Society.') 



1. The cluster or round cardamoms yielded \iyAmomum cardamomum 

 of Linnaeus, supposed to be the &fuafu>v of Dioscorides (lib. i. cap. xix.), 

 the Amomi ura of Pliny (' Hist. Nat.,' lib. xii. cap. xxviii.), a native of 

 Sum.-itra, Java, and other islands to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal. 

 The fruit varies in size from that of a pea to a cherry. When they 

 occur in their native clusters or spikes, they constitute the Amomum 

 racemosum ; when distinct, simply round cardamoms. The seeds are 

 brown, angular, wedge-shaped, somewhat shrivelled, with an aromatic 



i<>r-like flavour. These are more employed in the South of 

 Kurope than with us, but they are officinal in the French Codex and 

 the Dublin Pharmacopoeia. They posesss, though in less degree, the 

 qualities of the Malabar cardamoms. 



2. A, -mum Paradui, Afzel. et A. Melegueta, Roscoe. The 

 name yraint of paradise are given to the seeds of the two species of 

 Amomum cited here, called also Guinea grains, while Malagueta 

 pepper is given to the latter only ; yet the term Malagueta pepper is 

 also given to the fruit of the Eugenia pimenta. Manii/uette is likewise 

 sometimes given as a name to the grains of paradise ; but this is pro- 

 perly the designation of the fruit or seeds of I'nona lethinpica, called, 

 from ite pungent qualities, Piper (fthiopicum, but not a species of the 

 genus Piper. 



The two sorts of seeds to which the term yraini of paradise should 

 be restricted grow in Africa, probably widely apart, as they find their 

 way to different parts of the coast, and are held in commerce to be 

 very different in value. 



Amomum ffranum Parodist, Afzelius, and Smith (in Rees' ' Cyc.,' 

 vol. xxiii., art. ' Mellegetta ; ' and vol. xxix., sttppl., art. 'Amomum'), 

 native of Guinea, about Sierra Leone. The capsule is about an inch [ 

 lng, half an inch in diameter, oblong, bluntly triangular, somewhat 

 ovate, beaked, of a dark reddish-brown, ribbed, coriaceous, rough, with 

 minute deciduous bristly hairs. This, when broken, gives a powerful 

 aromatic odour, which it retains even for twenty years. The seeds 

 within are numerous, enveloped in membranes formed of the dried 

 pulp; when freed from this they appear roundish or angular, of a 

 ihining golden colour inclining to brown ; when old, minutely rough 

 or granulated ; when bitten, extremely hot, acrid, and pungent. 



The A momtim HfekffuOta ( Hoscoe) is cultivated in Denmark, probably 

 introduced from Africa. The seed-vessel and seeds are larger than 

 those of A . frran urn Paradisi. 



In commerce the two sorts are distinguished as : 1. Guinea grains 

 from Cape Palmas and Sierra Leone, supposed to be the produce of 

 A.OranuinParadin ; less esteemed than 2. Guinea grains from Acra; 

 larger and plumper than the preceding, as well as more warty. They 



have also on the umbilicus of the seed a short, conical, projecting 

 tuft of pale-coloured fibres, Considered to be the produce of 

 A. Meleguetta (Roscoe). 



The chemical composition of grains of paradise, according to the 

 analysis of Willert, in 1811, appears to be 



Volatile oil 0.52 



Acrid resin 3 40 



Extractive . . . . . .1-27 



Tragacanthine and woody fibre , . . 82'8 

 Water and loss 12-0 



99-99 



The active constituents" are the volatile oil, which is of a light yellow 

 colour, with camphor-like odour, and very hot penetrating taste, and 

 the resin. This is soft, brown, devoid of odour, but with an acrid 

 burning taste. 



While the native Africans justly esteem these fruits and seeds as the 

 most wholesome of aromatics, and employ them in many of their dishes, 

 prejudice restricts the employment of them ' in England, either as 

 veterinary medicine or as an ingredient in liqueurs or cordials, their 

 use for which is absurdly prohibited by heavy penalties. Being exempt 

 on the Continent, large use is there made of them. (Jullien, ' Manuel 

 du Sommelier.') 



Amomum maximum (Roxb.), yields the greater Java cardamoms, the 

 Nepaul cardamoms, and Bengal cardamoms. These ai-e easily distin- 

 guished by immersing the dried capsules in hot water, when they 

 immediately swell, become globular, and evolve from nine to thirteen 

 elevated ridges terminating in their membranaceous wings. The seeds 

 are larger than those of grains of paradise, and have a dull dirty brown 

 hue. The taste and odour are only feebly aromatic, and they contain 

 far less volatile oil, which is whitish. They are chiefly exported from 

 this country in bond, for use on the Continent. 



^ The Amomum Korarima yields the Cardamomum majus of Valerius 

 G'ordus, a still feebler species. The term Cardamomum majus has also 

 been given to the fruit of an unknown species, which Dr. Pereira 

 has proposed to call Amomum citratum, from the agreeable lemon 

 grass-like odour of the seeds. These have sometimes been termed 

 Grains of Paradise, but the seeds appear larger than the common ones. 



The Amomum C/usii deserves notice, not only because the seeds 

 receive the name of " Bastard Melligetta " from the natives around 

 Fernando Po, where they are abundant, but on account of the use 

 made by them of the pulp in which the seeds are imbedded. This is 

 of a soft consistence, acidulous, and of a pleasant flavour. Either 

 alone, or diluted with water, this natural compound has a most bene- 

 ficial effect in allaying thirst or soothing the intestinal canal when 

 irritated by purgatives or disease, such as dysentery. Similar natural 

 combinations are used by the natives of various hot countries; 

 such as the pulp of the Adansonia dirjitata in Senegal, and the 

 Tamarindus Indica, in the East Indies, and Tamarindui occidental!* in 

 the West. 



Amomum macrospermum (Smith ; Zinyiber Meleyuetta, Gsertner), only 

 deserves notice as having been erroneously asserted by Trew to pro- 

 duce from its seeds the Cajuput oil of commerce. Though a native of 

 Sierra Leone, the fruit is termed sometimes Cardamomum bandaensc. 

 The natives suck the acidulous juice of the capsule. 



TheMetharia cardamomum (Maton) , yields the true or officinal carda- 

 mom, called likewise Malabar cardamom. The fruit and seeds are 

 officinal. The seeds are more potent when kept in the capsule till 

 about to be used. They are either collected from wild plants or culti- 

 vated, the best from the latter, especially such as are produced at 

 Wynaad. The wild plants are so abundant in the Ghauts of Caduti- 

 nada, and near Mahe', that the hills are called the Mountains of 



Cardamoms (Fee). The capsules occur in commerce in three forms, 



shorts, short-Ion r/a, and long-longs. The shorter are the most esteemed ; 

 they are probably collected earlier than the others, and while possessed 

 of more aromatic pungent flavour. According to the analysis of the 

 shorts by Trommsdorff, in 1834, they contain 



Essential oil 4-3 



Fixed oil 10'4 



A salt (malate ?) of potash, with colouring matter . 2'5 



Starch 3-0 



Nitrogenous mucilage, with phosphate of lime . . 1'8 



Yellow colouring matter 0'4 



Woody fibre 77-3 



The volatile oil is the active ingredient. Cardamoms are perhaps the 

 best and most esteemed of all aromatic stimulants ; they enter into 

 various pharmaceutical compounds, especially two tinctures, a simple 

 and compound one. It is an ingredient in many dishes in the East, 

 especially curries. [CURCUMA.] 



CA'RDINAL, the highest dignity in the Roman Church and court, 

 next to the pope. The cardinals are the electors of the pope, and his 

 councillors. 



The term is derived from the Latin adjective " cardinalis," which 

 means " principal," or from the substantive " cardo," which means a 

 " hinge," the cardinals being the hinges or supports of the Church, and 



