502 MYRlSTlCEi^i:. 



commenced in France in the latter half of the last century, and has 

 been })ursued with some enthusiasm in various localities. The species 

 grown were Rheum i)almatum L., Mh. it ndulatunn L., Rh. compactum 

 L., and Rh. RJmponticuini L. The first was thought by Guibourt^ to 

 afford a root more nearly approaching than any other the rhubarb of 

 China ; but it is that which is cultivated the least readily, the central 

 root being liable to premature deoaj^ Both this plant and RIl. 

 andiUatum were formerly cultivated by order of the Russian Govern- 

 ment on a large scale at Kolywan and Krasnojarsk in Southern 

 Siberia, but the culture has, we believe, been loner abandoned.^ 



As to France, it appears from inquiries we have lately made (1873), 

 that except in the neighbourhood of Avignon and in a few other scat- 

 tered localities, the cultivation has now ceased. 



Rheum RJiaponticuin is the source of the rhubarb which is ))ro- 

 duced at Austerlitz and Auspitz in Moravia, and at Ilmitz, Kremnitz and 

 Frauenkirchen in Hungary, Some rhubarb is also produced in Silesia 

 from Rh. Eniodi Wall. {Rile, australe Don.). 



MYKISTICEJE. 



MYRISTICA. 



Nuclei MyristiccB, Semen Myristicce, Ninxc moschata; Nutmeg; 

 F. Muacade, Noix de Muscade; G. Muslmtnuss. 



Botanical Origin — Myristica fragrans Houttuyn {M. inoschata 

 Thunb., M. offi^cinalis Linn, f), a handsome, bushy, evergreen tree,^ 

 with dark shining leaves, growing in its native islands to a height of 

 40 to 50 feet. It is found wild in the very small volcanic group of 

 Banda, from Damma to Amboina, in Ceram, Bouro, Jilolo (Halmahera), 

 the western peninsula of New Guinea, and in many of the adjacent 

 islands, but it is not indigenous to any of the islands westward of 

 these, or to the Philippines (Crawfurd). 



The nutmeg tree has been introduced into Bencoolen on the west 

 coast of Sumatra, Malacca, Bengal, the islands of Singapore and Penang, 

 as well as Brazil and the West Indies ; but it is only in a very few 

 localities that the cultivation has been attended with success. 



In its native countries the tree comes into bearing in its ninth year, 

 and is said to continue fruitful until 60 or even 80 years old, yielding 

 annually as many as 2000 fruits. It is dioecious, and one male tree 

 furnishes pollen sufficient for twenty female. 



History — It has been generally believed that neither the nutmeg 

 nor mace was known to the ancients. C. F. Ph. von Martins^ however 

 maintains that mace was alluded to in the comedies of Plautus,^ written 

 about two centuries before the Christian era. 



'^ Histoire des Drogues, \i. [\S^Q) Z^^. * Most beautifully figured by Blume, 



2 Twelve chests of this rhubarb, said to be "Rumphia" i. (1835) tab. 55; Myristkn 



of the crop of 1793, which had been lying fatua, ii. 59. 



in the Russian Government warehouses, * Flora Brasilknsis, fasc. 11-12. 133; 



were offered for sale in London, Dec. 1, also in Buchner's Repertorium fur Phar- 



1853. Samples of the drug now 80 years muck, ix. (18G0) 529-538. 



old are in our possession, and still sound * Fiseudolu4s, act. iii. sceua 2. 



and good. 



