246 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



tainous parts of Jamaica, reckoned a species of myrtle, 

 and called by Sir Hans Sloane myrtus arborea aromatica 

 foliis lauriniis, by Linnseus myrtus foliis alternis. 



"This spice, at first brought over for dietetic uses, has 

 been long employed in the shops as a succedaneum to 

 the more costly oriental aromatics: from them it was 

 introduced into our hospitals, and is now received both 

 in the London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias." 



The chief use of pimenta is as a spice, but a distilled 

 water made therefrom has also been employed. 



PIPER (Pepper, Black Pepper) 



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



Black pepper, Piper nigrum, is a perennial, climbing 

 shrub, native to the forests of Malabar and Travan- 

 core, whence it was introduced to other tropical coun- 

 tries, such as Sumatra, the Philippines, West Indies, 

 and the Malay Peninsula. It has been used as a spice 

 and as a stomachic remedy by the natives of -these and 

 other countries since the date of the discovery of the 

 remedy, and probably from all time preceding. Pepper 

 was mentioned by Theophrastus (633), who described 

 two kinds. Dioscorides (194) and Pliny (514) both 

 give it a place in their writings. As early as 64 A. D. 

 pepper was mentioned as occurring on the Malabar 

 Coast. The Romans at Alexandria, A. D. 176, levied 

 on it a duty. The Arabian authors of the 12th and 

 14th centuries described it fairly. In the European 

 countries in the Middle Ages, pepper was considered 

 the most important of all spices, being the foundation 

 of much of the wealth of Venice and Genoa during 

 their greatest commercial activity. It has been used 

 as a medium of exchange when money was scarce, and 



