336 



P IP 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PIP 



the warmth of the season, to prevent them from drawing up 

 weak ; and when the nights are cold, the glasses of the hot- 

 bed should be covered with mats to keep them warm. As 

 the stalks of most of these plants are tender when young, 

 they should not have much wet, which would rot them; and 

 when water is given to them, it must be with caution not to 

 beat down the plants ; for when that is done, they seldom 

 rise again. In autumn they must be plunged into the tan- 

 bed of the bark-stove, and be sparingly watered in winter. 

 They require the same warmth as the Coffee Tree ; and in 

 summer should have a large share of air in hot weather, but 

 must be constantly kept in the stove. 



2. Piper Betle ; Betel. Leaves somewhat oblong, acu- 

 minate, seven-nerved ; petioles two-toothed. Stem shrubby, 

 manifold, very long, trailing, and rooting at the joints ; 

 spikes slender, solid. Native of the East Indies. It is the 

 leaf of this species of Pepper plant which is called Betlc or 

 Betel, and serves to inclose a few slices or bits of the Areca, 

 (thence erroneously called the Betel-nut;) these, together with 

 a little chunam or shell-lime, are what the southern Asiatics 

 so universally chew to sweeten the breath, and strengthen the 

 stomach: the lower class of people there use it, as the Euro- 

 pean rabble do tobacco, to keep off the calls of hunger. 

 The consumption of it, like that of tobacco in Europe, is so 

 great as to form a considerable branch of commerce ; the 

 Asiatics deem it the height of ill breeding to address a supe- 

 rior without having some of it in their mouth ; and this, as 

 it does not poison one, nor disgust the other, like the filthy 

 weed to which civilized nations resort, is not without a 

 plausible excuse. The worst effects it produces, is that of 

 destroying the teeth; to which chewing and smoaking tobacco 

 also essentially contribute, though they are more speedily 

 ruined by the Betel, or rather by the lime that is always 

 used with it. The women of Canara, on the Malabar coast, 

 stain their teeth black with antimony, which preserves them 

 good to old age; while the men, who are great Betel-chewers, 

 seldom retain theirs till they have reached their prime. 



3. Piper Cubeba; Cubebs. Leaves obliquely ovate, or 

 oblong, veined, acute ; spike solitary ; peduncles opposite to 

 the leaf; fruits pedicelled. This is a very smooth shrub, 

 with a jointed flexuose stem. Native of the woods in the 

 island of Java, and of Sierra Leone. 



4. Piper Clusisefolium. Leaves obovate, blunt, veined; 

 spike solitary, terminating. Stem perennial, thicker than a 

 quill, branched, a foot high, at first upright, but afterwards 

 becoming decumbent from the weight of leaves and branches, 

 and throwing out roots from the joints ; by which perhaps 

 in its native soil it fastens itself to trees. The whole plant is 

 smooth. Native of the West Indies. 



5. Piper Capense ; Cape Pepper. Leaves ovate, nerved, 

 acuminate; nerves villose. It is distinguished from the other 

 larger species of the genus, which it resembles very much, 

 by having the veins of the leaves villose on the lower surface. 

 Native of the Cape. 



6. Piper Malamiris. Leaves ovate, sharpish, rugged un- 

 ' derneath ; nerves five, raised underneath ; stems round, stri- 

 ated, twining. "Native of both Indies. 



7. Piper Discolor. Leaves broad, ovate, five-nerved, very 

 smooth, discoloured on the hinder part; spikes more lax; 

 florets more remote. This is a shrub a fathom in height, 

 with alternate, erect, subdivided, jointed, round, smooth 

 branches. Native of the high mountains of Jamaica, where 

 it is found flowering in autumn. It varies with leaves atte- 

 nuated at the base, and blunt ovate-oblique. 



8. Piper Medium. Leaves ovate, acuminate, oblique, sub- 

 cordate at the base, five-nerved ; spikes axillary, nodding. 



It has several trunks eight feet high, two inches in dia- 

 meter at the base, upright, jointed, knobbed, ash-coloured ; 

 branches numerous, round, swelling at the joints. Native 

 country unknown. 



9. Piper Amalago ; Rough-leaved Pepper. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate-ovate, five-nerved, wrinkled. This is a shrub, from 

 three to ten feet in height ; stem even ; branches dichoto- 

 mous, jointed, subdivided, round, brownish green ; flowers 

 clustered. Browne calls it SmalWgrained Black Pepper, and 

 says that it grows very common in most of the hilly parts of 

 Jamaica, looking very bushy, and spreading on account of 

 its tender flexile branches ; it begins to divide very near the 

 root, and rises in tufts, frequently to the height of six or eight 

 feet or more. He used it for many months, and could not 

 perceive any sensible difference between it, and that of the 

 East, either in cookery or seasoning. The berries differ from 

 the Black Pepper of the East Indies only in size, being sel- 

 dom bigger than a large Mustard seed ; but the taste and 

 flavour is in every respect the same. It should be picked 

 when full grown before it ripens ; for, like the Pimento and 

 other spicy grains, it grows soft and succulent by maturity, 

 and loses its pungent flavour : it may then be dried in the 

 sun, like the Pimento, and left adhering to the spikes, which 

 seem to have the same flavour and pungency with the grain 

 itself, and are as easily ground in the mill. The leaves and 

 tender shoots are used in discutient baths and fomentations, 

 and sometimes are pounded and applied to foul ulcers : the 

 root is warm, and may be successfully administered as a reso- 

 lutive, sudorific, or diaphoretic ; but it aaswers best in infu- 

 sions or light decoctions, which may be varied in strength 

 as occasion requires. There is no deobstruentof this nature 

 that answers better in dropsies, or lighter obstructions from 

 clammy toughness or inertion. Native of Jamaica, Hispa- 

 niola, and Barbadoes. 



10. Piper Siriboa. Leaves cordate, commonly seven- 

 nerved, veined; stems hollow, shrubby, about four feet high, 

 divided into many small branches. The spikes come out 

 from the side of the branches. Native of the East Indies 

 and New Caledonia. 



1 1 . Piper Excelsum. Leaves orbicular-cordate, commonly 

 seven-nerved ; peduncles terminating, solitary, bifid ; stem 

 arboreous. Native of New Zealand. 



12. Piper Lon gum ; Long Pepper. Leaves cordate, peti- 

 oled, and sessile; stems shrubby, round, smooth, branched, 

 slender, climbing, but not to any considerable height ; flow- 

 ers small, in short dense terminating spikes, which are 

 nearly cylindrical. The berries are very small, and lodged 

 in a pulpy matter : like those of Black Pepper, they are first 

 green, and become red when ripe : they are hottest to the 

 taste in the immature state, and are therefore gathered whilst 

 green, and dried in the sun, where they change to a blackish 

 or dark grey colour. Dr. Cullen observes, that Long Pepper 

 has the same qualities with the Black, but in a weaker degree. 

 Native of the East Indies, especially of Java, Malabar, and 

 Bengal. 



13. Piper Methysticum; Intoxicating Pepper, or Ava, or 

 Kava. Leaves cordate, acuminate, many-nerved ; spikes 

 axillary, solitary, very short, peduncled, spreading very 

 much ; stem dichotomous, spotted, attaining the height of a 

 fathom. The root of this plant bruised, or more frequently 

 chewed in the mouth and mixed with the saliva, yields that 

 nauseous, hot, intoxicating juice, which is so acceptable to 

 the natives of the South Sea Islands, and is spoken of with 

 such just detestation by our voyagers. They pour the liquor 

 of the Cocoa-nut, or pure water, into it; but the less it i 

 diluted, the more this acrid, poisonous, and nauseous beverage, 



