352 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



Nutmeg Myristica moschata. 



The NUTMEG Myristica moschata is likewise 

 a native of the Moluccas, and after the possession of 

 these islands by the Dutch, was, like the clove, jea- 

 lously made an object of strict monopoly. Actuated 

 by this narrow-minded policy, the Dutch endea- 

 voured to extirpate the nutmeg-tree from all the 

 islands except Banda ; but it is said that the wood- 

 pigeon has often been the unintentional means of 

 thwarting this monopolizing spirit by conveying and 

 dropping the fruit beyond these limits ; thus dis- 

 seminated, the plant has been always more widely 

 diffused than the clove. This tree grows in several 

 islands in the Eastern Ocean, in the southern part 

 both peninsulas of India, and it has been introduced 

 into the Mauritius and some other places. It was 

 for a long time supposed that though the plant 



