CARYOPHYLLUS 51 



CARYOPHYLLUS (Clove) 

 Official in all editions of the U. S. P., from 1820 to 1910. 



Indigenous to the Molucca Islands proper, cloves 

 (Eugenia aromatica) have been an article of Indian com- 

 merce since an early date. Known to the Chinese 

 writers of the Han dynasty, 266 B. C. to 220 A. D., 

 cloves became known to Europe about the fourth cen- 

 tury, after which they became increasingly an article of 

 commerce, although, for a long time, they were very 

 expensive. The original home of the clove, the Moluc- 

 cas or Clove Islands, now produces no cloves at all. 

 Dymock, (Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. II, p. 20), 

 records as follows: 



"It is difficult to say when cloves were first introduced 

 into India, but they are mentioned by Charaka, who is 

 considered to be the oldest Sanskrit medical writer, 

 under the name of Lavanga, a name which, with various 

 modifications, is applied to cloves all over India. They 

 are regarded by Sanskrit writers as light, cooling, 

 stomachic, digestive and useful in thirst, vomiting, 

 flatulence, colic, etc., and are prescribed with other 

 spices and with rock salt. (Dutt's Hindu Materia 

 Medica.) A paste of cloves is applied to the forehead 

 and nose as a remedy for colds. A clove roasted in the 

 flame of a lamp and held in the mouth is a popular 

 remedy for sore throat. The early Arabian writers call 

 them Karanfal, a name evidently derived from the 

 Indian language of the Malabar Coast, Ceylon, and 

 the Straits." 



The aromatic nature of cloves made of them a great 

 favorite, and they were therefore used to perfume the 

 breath and to flavor food, as well as being employed in 

 domestic medicines, such as stomachic cordials. The 



