MYKlsriCACE^. 215 



aud then across the Red Sea into Africa, and so to the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean, where a heavy duty was laid on it. The Aral>ian physicians of 

 the niitUUe ages used it as a medicine. The duties to whidi popper was suh- 

 jeet were so great in tiie middle ages tliat only the rich were^al)le to procure 

 it. In 1623 the impost-tax in (ireat Britain was five shillings per pound, and 

 even as late as 1823 it was two-and-sixpence per pound, eciual to 63 cents. 



Cultivation. — Tho plant grows easily from slips, and is usually slipped 

 heneath trees which it is to climb. It fruits the first year after slipping, hut 

 reaches its maximum crop in the fifth year. A plant in full hearing yields 10 

 pounds, and will last 20 years. 



Chemistn/ —The chemist obtains from the pepper-corn or berry an es.sen- 

 tial oil and a resin, on which its pungency depends. The oil known as the oil 

 of black pepper gives the peculiar fiavor. There is also present a tasteless 

 alkaline substance known as piperine, CnHigNOsi, ^vhich forms four-sided 

 prismatic crvstals. . . . 



Preparation. — It is prepared for use by picking when in a .semi-ripe state, 

 and drving ; in drving it turns black, hence its name. The white pepper is 

 taken from tlie plant when nearly ripe, macerated in water, aud the outer skin 

 being removed, is bleached. The pungency of pepper is largely due to an oil 

 which resides in the cuticle, hence white pepper is not so strong as the black. 



Use. — Black pepper is used in civilized nations in almost all the prepara- 

 tions into which meat or fish enter, aud in small quantities is supposed to 

 promote digestion. ... 



It was formerly used in medical practice as a stimulant aud carminative m 

 disorders of the stomach. 



Order XLVI. MYRISTICACE^. 



Flowers dicBcious, inconspicuous, with simple perianth ; male flowers 

 with 3-15 monadelphous stamens ; anthers often on the margin of a 

 broad disk ; female flowers with 1-celled ovary, having 1 erect ovule ; 

 capsule fleshy ; seed erect, nut-like, enveloped in an aromatic, laciniated 

 aril; testa hard. Leaves alternate, exstipulate, coriaceous, simple, 

 entire, pubescent or scaly. Small aromatic trees or shrubs. 



Only 1 genus, with 80 species ; tropical. 



MYKISTICA, L. Flowers dioecious, perianth leathery, tubular, some- 

 what bell-shaped, 2-4-parted. Staminate flowers, with 3 to lo fila- 

 ments, united into a column which terminates in a toothed disk; 

 anthers attached to the filaments along the backs, and their dehi.s- 

 cence turned outwards, opening longitudinally. Pistillate flowers with 

 a single style ; stigma entire or lobed ; ovule solitary, fruit api^earing 

 at the base or bottom of the pistillate flower ; capsule fleshy, about the 

 size of an apricot, and shaped like a short pear; the outer covering is 

 half an inch thick. When ripe it opens by a smooth suture which 

 extends from the stem all around to the opposite side, separating the 

 shell into two equal parts. When partly open it exposes the nut en- 

 veloped in a network, which is thn mac^ of commerce ; inside th.- 

 mace is the nut, inclosing a hard, black shell, inside of which is the 

 kernel or nutmeg. 



