CARYOPHYLLL 285 



leaves and flower buds of Cinnamomum zeilanicum and in Brazilian 

 clove-bark (DicypeHium caryophyllatuTn Nees). 



Eugenol can be converted into Vanillin (see Fructus Vanillas). 



The water distilled from cloves is stated to contain, in addition to 

 the essential oil, another body, Eugenin, which sometimes separates 

 after a while in the form of tasteless, crystalline laminae, having the 

 same composition as eugenol.^ We have never met with it. 



According to Scheuch (1863), oil of cloves also (sometimes) con- 



tains a little Salicylic acid, CH* -I /-iqqtt which may be removed by 



shaking the oil with a solution of carbonate of ammonium. 



Cai'yophyllin, C-'^H^^O, is a neutral, tasteless, inodorous substance, 

 crystallizing in needle-shaped prisms. We have obtained it in small 

 quantity, by treating with boiling ether cloves, which we had pre- 

 viously deprived of most of their essential oil by small quantities 

 of alcohol. E. Mylius (1873) obtained from it by nitric acid, crystals 

 of Caryophyllinic Acid, C^H=^0«. 



CaiiniufeUic Acid obtained in colourless crystals, C^-H^O^^ in 

 1851 by Muspratt and Danson after digesting an aqueous extract of 

 cloves with nitric acid, is a product of this treatment and not a natural 

 constituent of cloves. 



Cloves contain a considerable proportion of gum ; also a tannic acid 

 not yet particularly examined. 



Production and Commerce — Of late years the principal locality 

 for the production of cloves has been the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba 

 on the east coast of Africa, which until very recently were capable of 

 producing a maximum crop of 10 J millions of pounds in a single 

 season. On the loth April 1872, Zanzibar was visited by a hurricane 

 of extraordinary violence, by which about five-sixths of the clove-trees 

 in the island were destroyed ; and although the plantations are being 

 renewed, many years must elapse before the crop can resume its former 

 importance. Pemba, which is distant from Zanzibar 25 miles, and pro- 

 duced about half as much of the spice as that island, did not 

 appreciably suffer from the storm. 



The crop on these islands fluctuates, a good year alternating with a 

 bad one. This is partly shown in the imports of Bombay, the great 

 mart of Zanzibar produce, which have been as follows : — 



1869-70 1870-71 1871-72 1872-73 



45,642 cwt. 21,968 cwt. 43,891 cwt. 25,185cwt. 



The quantity of cloves shipped from Bombay to the United 

 Kingdom is comparatively small, being in 1871-72, 3279 cwt.; in 

 1872-73, 3271 cwt. 



The imports of cloves to the United Kingdom are from one million 

 to four million pounds annually. 



Cloves are also largely shipped direct from Zanzibar to the United 

 States and Hamburg. A small amount is taken in native vessels to 

 the Red Sea ports ; these are packed in raw hides. Those for the 

 European and American markets are shipped in mat bags made of split 

 cocoa-nut leaf. 



The clove trade of the Moluccas has been for many years in the 



1 Gmelin, Chemistry, xiv. (1860) 201. 



