THE CLOVE. 



485 



LinntRus. This tree does not rise to any great 

 height, the trunk soon dividing into 



Clo'ie Trat". 



branches, which are covered with a smooth gray- 

 ish hark. The leaves are large, entire, oblong, 

 lance-shaped, of a bright green colour, and stand 

 in pairs upon short footstalks. 



The flowers grow in hunches at the very extre- 

 mity of the branches ; when they first appear, 

 which is at the beginning of the rainy season, 

 they are in the form of elongated greenish buds, 

 from the extremity of which the corolla is 

 expanded, which is of a delicate peach-blossom 

 colour. When the corolla begins to fade, the 

 calyx turns yellow, and then red ; the calyces, 

 with the embryo seed, are in this stage of their 

 growth beaten from, the tree, and after being 

 dried in the sun, are what are known as the 

 cloves of commerce. If the fruit be allowed to 

 remain on the tree after arriving at this period, 

 the calyx gradually swells, the seed enlarges, 

 and the pungent properties of the clove are in 

 great part dissipated. Each berry contains only 

 one seed, which is oval, dark coloured, and of a 

 considerable size. It is a long time before a 

 clove-tree yields any profit to the cultivator ; as 

 after repeated trials, it can be safely said that it 

 rarely produces fruit till eight or nine years 

 after being first planted. 



The whole tree is highly aromatic, and the 

 foot-stalks of the leaves have nearly the same 

 pungency as the calyx of the flowers. " Clove- 

 trees," says Sir T. Rafiles, " as an avenue to a 

 residence, are perhaps unrivalled — their noble 

 height, the beauty of their form, the luxuriance 

 of their foliage, and above all, the spicy fragrance 

 with which they perfume the air, produce, on 

 driving through a long line of them, a degree of 

 exquisite pleasure only to be enjoyed in the clear 

 light atmosphere of these latitudes." 



The clove is a native of most of the Molucca 

 islands where it has been produced from the ear- 



liest records, so abundantly, that in exchange 

 for their spicy produce, the inhabitants were 

 enabled, before the intrusion of the Europeans 

 into their country, to procure for themselves the 

 productions which they required of almost every 

 other region. Although Europeans have for more 

 than two thousand years known the use of this 

 spice, yet little more than three hundred years 

 back they were ignorant whence it was obtained. 

 The Persians, Arabians, and Egyptians formerly 

 brought cloves and nutmegs to the ports in the 

 Mediterranean, and hither the Venetians and 

 Genoese resorted to buy the spices of India, until 

 the Portuguese, in 1511, discovered the country 

 of their production. This nation did not, how- 

 ever, long enjoy the fruits of its discovery; the 

 Dutch soon drove them from the Moluccas, and 

 for a long time maintained a very strict mono- 

 poly over the productions of these islands. It 

 is said that they destroyed the clove trees grow- 

 ing on the other islands, and confined their cul- 

 ture wholly to Amboyna. They allotted to the 

 inhabitants four thousand parcels of land, on each 

 of which it was expected that one hundred and 

 twenty-five trees should be cultivated; and in 

 1720 a law was passed compelling the natives to 

 make up this number: there were in conse- 

 quence five hundred thousand clove trees planted 

 in this small island, each of these on an average 

 produced annually more than two pounds of 

 cloves, so that the aggregate produce weighed 

 more than a million of pounds. Subsequently 

 to this period, the policy of the Dutch somewhat 

 relaxed, and the tree has been suifered to grow 

 on other islands, and even to he earned to the 

 "West Indies, where, however, it does not appear 

 until very lately to have succeeded. Sir Joseph 

 Banks introduced it into this country about 

 1797. 



The clove seems to have been unknown as an 

 aromatic spice to the ancients, neither the Greek 

 nor Roman wiiters having taken any notice of 

 it. The Arabians first introduced it as a medi- 

 cine. The essential oil is used as one of the 

 most powerful stimulants in cases of gout or 

 cramp of the stomach, or of paralysis. It wiU 

 also be found a useful ingredient to allay the 

 pain of a carious tooth, when inflammation of 

 the membranes or gums is not present. Cloves, 

 in substance, are also used as condiments in 

 preserves and pickles. 



Cloves contain a very large proportion of essen- 

 tial oil, larger perhaps than any other plant or 

 parts of a plant. This oil is extremely pungent, 

 and is one of the few essential oils which is spe- 

 cifically heavier than water. It is usually pro- 

 cured by distillation, but when tlie cloves are 

 newly gathered, it may be obtained by pressure. 

 A part is often so taken, and the cloves, which 

 are thereby rendered of little value, are fraudu- 

 lently mixed with sound ones; but the robbed 



