NUTMEGS AND MACE 153 



This substance is used for certain soaps, and as an 

 outward application for rheumatism and sprains, and 

 is an important ingredient in pitch plaster and other 

 similar plasters. It has a certain amount of acridity, and 

 will blister the skin after being rubbed in for some time. 



The field for nutmegs as a spice is much larger than 

 that as a material for oil, and the suggestion to make 

 the oil and ship it from the West Indies, instead of the 

 nutmeg itself, would hardly be worth trying. Messrs. 

 Schimmel, in their semi-annual Keport for October 1909, 

 state, " the nutmeg oil remans unchanged at low prices. 

 There has been no lack of cheap nutmegs suitable 

 for distilling." 



OTHER SPECIES OF NUTMEGS 



There are several species of wild nutmegs in India, 

 the seeds of which are used chiefly for oils and soaps. 



Myristica canarica, Bedd., has a small seed like 

 a marble, about 1 to Ij in. long. It is a native of 

 Southern India. The seeds are only used in making 

 locally used candles. 



M. malabarica, Lam., has an oblong, tawny and 

 hairy seed, longer than the true nutmeg, and as broad. 

 The seed is 1-^ in. long and f in. through. The shell is 

 black and wrinkled longitudinally, and the kernel is full 

 of a red oily juice. The seeds are only used for the oil, 

 made into an ointment for ulcers and rheumatism, and 

 as an adulterant for the true nutmeg. The aril is also 

 used for adulterating mace, and is known as Bombay 

 mace. It is deficient in the aromatic essential oil. 



M. Biculiyba, Schott., and M. officinalis, Mart., and 

 M. sebifera, Sw., from Brazil; M. Otoba, H. B. K. of New 

 Granada ; M. guatemalensis, of Guatemala ; M. surina- 

 mensis, of West Indies; M. angolensis, Welw., of Gaboon; 

 and M. laurifolia, of Ceylon and Malaya, have all been 

 utilised as vegetable - fat producers. They have no 

 value as spice, however, as they are usually deficient 

 in myristicin. 1 



1 D. Hooper, Agricultural Ledger, 1907, 3. 



