-11 1 



SPICES AK1> FRA.GRAXT WOODS. 



Consumption. 



. . 18,821 

 . . 19,712 



21,997 

 21,695 

 21,480 



MACE EXPORTED ACTUAL GROWTH OF SINGAPORE. 



1841 



1842 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 

 1846 

 1847 



Quantity piculs. 



72 

 40 

 10 

 71 

 8 



Value 



583 

 1,616 



943 



359 

 1,616 



179 

 1,661 



109 piculs of imported mace were also re-shipped iii 1847. 

 40,000 Ibs. of mace were imported into the United Kingdom 

 from India in 1848. 



GINGER, GALANGALE, AND CARDAMOMS. 



THE rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Amomum Zingiber), consti- 

 tutes the ginger of commerce, which is imported chiefly from the 

 East and West Indies. It is also grown in China. In the young 

 state the rhizomes are fleshy and slightly aromatic, and they are 

 then used as preserves, or prepared in syrup ; in a more ad- 

 vanced stage the aroma is fully developed, their texture is more 

 woody, and they become fit for ordinary ginger. The inferior 

 sorts, when dried after immersion in hot water, form black ginger. 

 The best roots are scraped, washed, and simply dried in the sun 

 with care, and then they receive the name of white ginger. The 

 rhizome contains an acid resin and volatile oil, starch and gum. 

 It is used medicinally as a tonic and carminative, in the form of 

 powder, syrup, and tincture. 



The root stocks of Alpinia racemosa, A. Galanga, and many 

 other plants of the order, have the same aromatic and pungent 

 properties as ginger. 



The consumption of ginger is about 13,000 or 14,000 cwt. a 

 year. Of 16,004 cwt. imported in 1840, 5,381 came from the 

 British West Indies, 9,727 from the East India Company's pos- 

 sessions and Ceylon, and 896 cwt. from Western Africa. 



The difference between the black and white ginger of the shops 

 is ascribed by Dr. P. Browne and others to different methods 

 of curing the rhizomes; but this is scarcely sufficient to account 

 for them, and I cannot help suspecting the existence of some 

 difference in the plants themselves. That this really exists is 



