560 



{M. officinalis); Woodville, Med. Bot. iv. (1832) t. 238 (if. 

 moschata) ; Steph, & Ch. Med, Bot. t, 104 {M. moschata) ; 

 Martius, Fl, Bras. v. pt, i, t, 38 ; Berg. & Schmidt^ Darst. &■ 

 Beschr. Pharm. ii. t. 13a; Baillon, Hist, PL ff. 298-306; BentL 

 & Trimen, Med. PI. t. 218; Kohler, Med. Pflan. ii ; Warburg^ 

 Muskatnuss (1897) t. 1, t. 3, ff. 1-6; Karst. & Schenck, Veg. 

 bikl. i. t. 17; Wiener, 111. Gart. Zeit., 1904, p. 272, t. 66 (habit 

 &; fl, branch) ; Freeman in Journ. Roy, Hort, Soc, xxix, 1904^ 

 p. 638, f. 194; Ridley, Spices, p. 95 (habit). 



Nutmeg, 



Native of the Moluccas or Spice Islands : but widely sj^read 

 by cultivation, to the West Indies, Mauritius, Africa — Zanyilar,. 

 &c. and South America. The important trade sources, ho-^vever^ 

 of " nutmegs " and '' mace " are few — chiefly, Banda Islards^ 

 Java, Sumatra and other East India Islands, Penang and SiDga- 

 pore ; to a smaller extent, West Indies, — Grenada {^ee Kew BulL 

 1891, p. 145) from whence in 1911, 6,496 barrels and 456 half 

 barrels of nutmegs with 292 cases and 341 bags of mace were 

 exported (Col. Rep. Ann. No. 472, 1912, p. 9); and Mauritius.. 

 In Zanzibar the tree has been established for approximately 

 100 years. It was introduced to Calabar, West Africa fronx 

 Kew in 1900; grown in the W. Province for distribution 

 (Farquhar, Rep. For, & Agric. W, Prov, Sept. 30th, 1607); 

 said to have grown well at Heddle's Farm, Sierra Leone (.Scotfc 

 Elliot, Col. Rep, Misc. No, 3, 1893, p. 21). 



It is rejiorted that the West Indian Nutmt 

 inferiority are not sold as such-—** they are shipped principally 

 from Grenada to London, graded as to size and mixed with 



Singapore nutmegs and then shipped to this Market [IT. S.A.J 

 and sold under the trade name of Singapore nutmegs " (Agric^ 

 News, Barbados, 1910, p. 84). The price of West Indian nut- 

 megs in 1910 was from 10-20 per cent, below those of Singapore- 

 (Lc); the prices now (1919) are ''West India"— I18's at: 

 l6\ ZcL; Si's to Ol's, slightly wormy 10c/. to 10|(^. ; '* Garbled 

 Bombay " 76's to 85''s Is. 5cL to 1^. 6^7. ; 90's to 103's 1^. 3|rf. 



to Is. 4:d, ; 

 1919, p. 53). 



em. & Druggist, Jan. 11 



The seed or '' nutmeg " is the principal trade product, but 

 the " mace '' (or arillus) is also sold as a spice. The process of 

 *' liming " nutmegs although not a necessity, is an important 

 feature of the preparation — it '' consists of shaking the nutmegs 

 in a cask with a handful of recently prepared well-dried lime ' 

 (Chem. & Druggist, May 23rd, 1908, p. 816). The pericarp or 

 outer fleshy part of the fruit makes an excellent preserve (Kew 

 Bull. 1888, p. 179). 



An oil is also obtained from the seeds used in perfumery, in 

 soap- making and as a flavouring in cooking. Nutmegs yield 

 from 8-15 per cent, of volatile oil on distillation (Parry, Chem^ 

 Ess. Oils, p. 240) and the '* Mace " from 4-15 per cent. (Lc^ 



