SPICES. 353 



could be transplanted, the peculiar aroma of the nut, 

 which gives to the tree its commercial value, was 

 weakened, if not entirely lost, when this was removed 

 from its native soil, and that, as a spice-producing 

 tree, it, as well as the clove, was confined to the same 

 narrow locality to which the clove was said to be 

 restricted. In Sumatra, however, it has been suc- 

 cessfully cultivated to a large extent. Sir Thomas 

 Raffles gives an account of the plantation at Bencoo- 

 len in 1820: ' Out of the number of one hundred thou- 

 sand nutmeg-trees,' he writes, ' one fourth are in full- 

 bearing, and although their culture may be more ex- 

 pensive, their luxuriance and produce are considered 

 fully equal to those of the Moluccas.' An attempt has 

 been made at Trinidad to naturalize there the clove 

 and the nutmeg ; and, very recently, samples of these 

 spicea produced in that island have been transmitted 

 to England for the inspection and approval of the 

 Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. The 

 opinions of the best judges have been taken with 

 respect to their quality as compared with the Oriental 

 produce, and, in consequence of a most favourable 

 report, the gold medal of the Society has been 

 awarded to the western cultivator of these spices ; 

 while sanguine hopes are entertained that the clove 

 and the nutmeg will one day be perfectly acclimatized 

 in the tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere. 

 The nutmeg-tree, as well as the clove, was introduced 

 into this country by Sir Joseph Banks as an orna- 

 mental hot-house plant. 



Two spices are obtained from the nutmeg-tree 

 nutmeg, which is the kernel of the fruit ; and mace, 

 which is the membranous tunic or covering immedi- 

 ately investing the thin black shell in which the 

 nutmeg is contained ; the whole is enveloped by the 

 external portion of the fruit in the same manner as 

 the stone of a peach is by the pulp. This tree is 



VOL. xv. 30* 



