648 ZINGIBERACEiE. 



Uses — Cardamoms are an agreeable aromatic, often administered in 

 conjunction with other medicines. As an ingredient in curry powder, 

 they have also some use as a condiment. But the consumption in 

 England is small in comparison with what it is in Russia, Sweden, 

 Norway and parts of Germany, where they are constantly employed as 

 a spice for the flavouring of cakes. In these countries Ceylon carda- 

 moms are also used, but exclusively for the manufacture of liqueurs. 

 In India, cardamoms, besides being used in medicine, are employed as 

 a condiment and for chewing with betel. 



Other sorts of Cardamom. 



The fruits of several other plants of the order Zingiheracece have 

 at various times been employed in pharmacy under the common name 

 of Cardamom. We shall here notice only those which have some im- 

 portance in European or Indian commerce.^ 



■Romid or Cluster Cardamom — ATnomv/m Cardamomum L., the 

 mother-plant of this drug, is a native of Cambodia, Siam, Sumatra 

 and Java. 



During the intercourse with Siam, which was frequent in the early 

 part of the 17th century, this drug, which is there in common use, 

 occasionally found its way into Europe. Clusius received a specimen 

 of it in 1605 as the true Amomum of the ancients, and figured it as a 

 great rarity.^ As Amomum verum it had a place in the pharmacopoeias 

 of this period. Parkinson (1640), who figures it as Aoniioriiiim genuinum, 

 says that " of late days it hath been sent to Venice from the East 

 Indies." Dale (1693) and Pomet (1694) both regarded it as a rare drug; 

 the latter says it is brought from Holland, and that it is the only thing 

 that ought to be used when Amomumj is ordered. In 1751 it was so 

 scarce that in making the Theriaca Andromachi some other drug had 

 always to be substituted for it.'* 



Thus it had completely disappeared, when about the year 1853 

 commercial relations were re-opened with Siam; and among the com- 

 modities poured into the market were Round Cardamoms. They were 

 not appreciated, and the importations becoming unprofitable, soon 

 ceased.* They are nevertheless an article of considerable traflSc in 

 Eastern Asia. 



Round Cardamoms are produced in small compact bunches.^ Each 

 fruit is globular, -^-^ to xV of an inch in diameter, marked with longi- 

 tudinal furrows, and sometimes distinctly three-lobed. The pericarp 

 is thin, fragile, somewhat hairy, of a buff" colour, enclosing a three-lobed 

 mass of seeds, which are mostly shrivelled as if the fruit had been 

 gathered unripe. The seeds, which have a general resemblance to those 

 of the Malabar cardamom, have a strong camphoraceous, aromatic taste. 



There is a large export from Siam of cardamoms of this and the 

 following sort. The shipments from Bangkok in 1871 amounted to 



^ For additional information on the occurs in the Dispensatorium of Valerius 



various sorts of Cardamom, consult Gui- Cordus. 



bourt, Hist, den Drorj. ii. (18G9) 215-227; » Hill, Hkt. of the Mat. Ifed., Lond. 



Pereira, Elements of Mat. Med. ii., part (1751) 472. 



i. (1855) 243-263; Hanbury in Pharm. * Thus 43 bags, imported direct from 



Journ. xiv. (1855) 352. 416 ; Science Papers, Bangkok, were offered for sale in London, 26 



93-15. March, 1857, and bought in at Is. 6£^. per lb. 



'-^ Exoticorum Libri, 377. Yet it already ^ Fig. in Guibourt, /. c. 215. 



