SPICES AND CONDIMENTS. 227 



tractive oxidizable matter equivalent to 18 per cent, of quercitannic 

 acid, or require an oxygen equivalent of about 4.50 per cent, for its re- 

 duction. 



Of the 11 specimens of ground cloves examined, although none of 

 them were of first quality, this tannin equivalent exceeded 18 in all but 

 3. The addition of stems and allspice would not be discovered, as both 

 contain tannin in considerable amount. This determination is, then, in 

 no way conclusive, but merely furnishes an indication which must be 

 corroborated by other means. For the method of carrying it out refer- 

 ence must be made to our pages on analyses. As has been said, none of 

 the ground specimens of cloves were first class, analyses showing that 

 in only one case did the essential oil reach as high as 13.93 per cent., 

 and although but 2 from Baltimore contained cheap foreign adulterants 

 and none were sophisticated with allspice, all the specimens must have 

 been made from a low grade of buds and many with the addition of 

 large quantities of stems and spent cloves. The two cheapest specimens, 

 4873 and 4874, were, as has been said, terrible compounds of mineral 

 coloring matter, leaving a dark ferruginous ash, corn meal, and hulls, 

 evidence of which appears in the analyses from the low oil, 3.59 and 4.06 

 per cent., and the high crude fiber. The addition of so much organic 

 matter low in ash conceals the presence of mineral coloring matter which 

 is detected by its ferruginous appearance. In the ash of the whole*buds, 

 while there are at times some of a light reddish tinge, the color is dis- 

 tinctly or often dark green from the presence of manganese. 



Our results show the universal and alarmingly poor quality of the 

 commercial supply of ground cloves. 



PIMENTO OR ALLSPICE. 



Pimento is the fruit of Pimenta officinalis, an evergreen tree common 

 in the West Indies. It is the only one of the common spices which had 

 its origin in the New World. It is a small, dry, globular berry from two 

 to three tenths of an inch in diameter, having a short style and sur- 

 rounded by four short thick sepals which often, however, have become 

 rubbed off, leaving a scar-like ring. The berry has a woody shell, or 

 pericarp, easily cut, and of dark, ferruginous brown, rugose by means 

 of minute tubercles filled with essential oil. It is two-celled, each cell 

 containing a single seed. The seed is less aromatic than the pericarp. 



Under the microscope the outer layer of the pericarp, just beneath 

 the epidermis, appears as a collection of very large brown parenchy- 

 matous cells filled with oil. The more interior layers consist of thick 

 walled or stone cells loaded with resin, the most characteristic struc- 

 ture of the pimento, parenchyma cells, and smaller crystals of calcic ox- 

 alate which are not easily seen. The whole tissue is traversed, but not 

 plentifully, by fibro-vascular bundles. The seeds contain much starch 

 in minute grains and have a few oil cells. The embryo is large and spi- 

 rally curved. The hulls of the seeds consist of a delicate epidermis 



