GINGER 117 



form and benzol. There is also present in addition an acrid resin and 

 a tannin, the latter being colored greenish with ferric salts. 



ZINGIBERACE^I, OR GINGER FAMILY 



Perennial herbs characterized by long or tuberous rhizomes and 

 strongly thickened roots. They are indigenous to the tropics of the 

 eastern hemisphere, especially the countries bordering the Indian 

 Ocean and Malay Islands, only two of the genera being found in 

 tropical America. The leaves are lanceolate and ligulate at the 

 basal portion of the petiole. The fibrovascular bundles are con- 

 centric and arranged in one or more rows within the central cylinder. 

 The walls of the cells of the endodermis are thin and mostly suberized. 

 The plants usually contain a volatile oil which is colored by a yellow 

 coloring principle curcumin, this being found in special secretion 

 cells which somewhat resemble the surrounding parenchyma. The 

 starch grains are quite characteristic, having a distinct acute termina- 

 tion or beak near the point of origin of growth. 



ZINGIBER. Ginger. The rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Fam. 

 Zingiberacese) , a perennial herb (Fig. 48) indigenous to Asia, and 

 cultivated in tropical countries, notably in the West Indies, India and 

 Africa. The rhizomes are collected between December and March; 

 they are cleaned by washing, peeled, again washed in water, some- 

 times containing juice of the lime fruit, and dried in the sun. There 

 are several kinds of the drug, depending upon the manner of treat- 

 ment. That from Africa has the periderm removed from the vertical 

 sides only, and is known as " coated " ginger; in the Jamaica variety 

 the periderm is completely removed and the product is known as 

 " peeled " or " uncoated " or " scraped " ginger. The latter is 

 sometimes steeped in milk of lime to protect it against the attacks 

 by insects. The Jamaica variety has a very delicate aroma. 



Jamaica Ginger. Horizontal, laterally compressed, irregularly 

 branched pieces (Fig. 49), 4 to 10 cm. long, 4 to 20 mm. broad, 5 to 

 10 mm. thick; externally light brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 

 having somewhat elliptical, depressed stem-scars, with few fibers of 

 fibrovascular tissue or adhering fragments of periderm; fracture 

 mealy and with short projecting fibrovascular bundles :" internally, 

 cortex light brown, 0.1 to 0.4 mm. thick; central cylinder with 

 numerous circular groups of fibrovascular tissue and yellowish 

 secretion cells; odor strongly aromatic; taste pungent. 



Inner Structure. See Fig. 50. In fresh ginger and in the con- 

 fection " crystallized ginger " the contents of the secretion cells are 



