132 FRUITS 



should not be present in large quantity, as they contain less cubebic 

 acid and resin, and much less volatile oil. 



The following fruits have from time to time been found mixed with 

 or substituted for genuine cubebs : 



Einoe badak, greyish, 6 mm. in diameter, odour mace-like. 



Piper crassipes, Korthals ; black, larger than genuine, stalk longer 

 and curved, usually depressed at base. 



Piper ribesioides, Wallich ; brown, larger than genuine, taste less 

 aromatic and more bitter, sclerenchymatous cells in mesocarp. 



Piper mollissimum, Blume ; large fruits, long stalks, no inner row 

 of sclerenchymatous cells. 



Piper Lowong, Blume ; fruit about 6 mm. in diameter, stalk 6 mm. 

 long, no inner row of sclerenchymatous cells. 



Piper Clusii, Casimir de Candolle ; small, grey ; stalk curved ; taste 

 very peppery ; imported from the Congo under the name of Congo or 

 African cubebs. 



Uses. Cubebs have a stimulant and antiseptic action on the 

 mucous membrane of the genito-urinary organs and are also diuretic. 

 They are chiefly used in gonorrhoea and affections of the bladder, 

 sometimes also in chronic bronchitis, the active constituents of the 

 drug leaving the body by the kidneys and urinary passages, the skin 

 and the respiratory organs. 



BLACK PEPPER 



(Piper Nigrum) 



Source, &c. The pepper vine, Piper nigrum, Linne (N.O. Piperacece), 

 is a perennial climbing plant indigenous to southern India, but spread 

 by cultivation over the islands of the Malay Archipelago and to the 

 West Indies and South America. It is now cultivated chiefly in 

 Sumatra, Singapore, Johore, the islands of the Rioux-Lingga Archi- 

 pelago, Penang and Siam. Probably no drug or spice has been so 

 sought after, or has played so important a part, as pepper. It was 

 apparently brought to Europe soon after the expedition of Alexander 

 the Great to India. During the Middle Ages the trade in it was 

 concentrated in Venice, and the desire to divert so profitable a com- 

 merce acted as a direct inducement to the Genoese and Portuguese 

 to seek a sea route to India, which resulted in the discovery by Vasco 

 da Gama in 1498 of the route round the Cape of Good Hope to India. 

 At the present moment the centre of the pepper trade is Singapore, 

 whence about one-half of the world's supply is exported (Tschirch, 1892) . 



The pepper vines are cultivated in gardens as hops are in England, 

 but instead of poles being used, trees are planted to afford the necessary 

 shade and support. The plant bears a pendulous spike of sessile 



