MYRISTICACE^E. HI 



500 parts of nutmegs consisted of: stearine 120, elaine 38, volatile oil 30, 

 acid 4, starch 12, woody fibre, gum, &c, 296. 



Mace, as found in commerce, when fresh and good, is of a reddish-brown 

 or saffron colour, of a pleasant aromatic smell, of a warm, bitterish, pungent 

 taste, and a tough oleaginous texture. On distillation, it affords an essen- 

 tial oil, having the odour and flavour of the mace. According to an analysis 

 by Henry, (Jour, de Pharm. x. 281,) mace contains a small quantity of 

 volatile oil, much odorous, fixed oil of a yellow colour, about an equal portion 

 of a red, fixed, fragrant oil, a peculiar extractive, and a small proportion of 

 woody fibre. 



Medical Uses, fyc. — The great employment of the nutmeg and mace is for cu- 

 linary purposes, as condiments, for which purpose they are admirably adapted 

 from their agreeable taste and their stimulating properties. In the East, they 

 are in general use both by the natives and Europeans, as the most energetic 

 of the digestive excitants, as well as to impart a flavour to insipid articles of 

 food. As remedial agents, they owe their activity to the volatile oil they 

 contain, and when administered in moderate quantities, produce the usual 

 effect of the other spices, but in large doses they cause an unpleasant train of 

 narcotic symptoms, not unlike those induced by an undue use of camphor ; 

 instances of. this are noticed by Bontius, Lobel, Etmuller, Ainslie, Cullen, 

 Pereira, and others, and hence they should be avoided in cerebral affections. 

 In India they are considered among their most valuable remedies in dyspeptic 

 complaints, and in all cases requiring cardiacs and corroborants, and are also 

 prescribed to children suffering much in weaning : they are likewise given in 

 low fevers, consumptive complaints, and asthma, generally in combination 

 with other aromatics. 



In Europe and the United States they are seldom employed except as con- 

 diments, their principal use in medicine being as a flavouring ingredient, or 

 to obviate the drastic effects of certain purgatives, though from their cordial, 

 carminative and narcotic powers they have produced good effects in bowel 

 complaints. Nutmeg forms an important ingredient in the aromatic confec- 

 tion so frequently used in these diseases, and also entered into the composi- 

 tion of numerous electuaries at onetime so much prized, as the theriac, orvie- 

 tan, &c. 



The volatile and expressed oils are occasionally resorted to as external sti- 

 mulants in rheumatism and palsy, but are inferior to many other articles of 

 the same character. The dose of either nutmeg or mace is from a few grains 

 to a scruple, or even more, according to circumstances ; habit reconciles the 

 constitution to much larger doses than can be borne by persons unaccustomed 

 to the use of these articles. The volatile oil may be administered either on 

 sugar, or dissolved in spirit, in doses of two to ten drops. 



Several other species ofMyristica furnish analogous products, though none 

 of them are equal to those of the moschata. The M. tomentosa of southern 

 India is said to afford what are called long or male nutmegs, which, although 

 possessing the same qualities as the genuine article, are much inferior to them 

 in flavour; the fruit of the M. officinalis Spix is considered in Brazil as an 

 energetic tonic ; and in the East Indies the fruit of the M. spuria and M. acu- 

 minata are used as substitutes for the true nutmeg. The coarse, unpleasant- 

 smelling nutmegs of Santa Fe are the produce of the M. otoba ; the mace of 

 this is the basis of an ointment used in Colombia as a remedy in the itch. 

 Some of the species have insipid nuts; thus in the M.fatua, the fragrance is 

 very slight and soon disappears, whilst in others it is scarcely perceptible ; 

 but at the same time the nuts are still active, as Mr. Hinds (Lond. Jour. Bot. 



