PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



Edited by C. F. Langworthy, Ph.D. 

 Author of "On Citraconic, Itaconic and Mesaconic Acids," "Fish as Food," etc. 



''What a Man Eats He Is." 



NUTMEG AND, MACE. 



The nutmeg is the kernel of the seed 

 Myristica fragrans, a dioecious evergreen 

 tree found wild in the Banda islands and 

 some of the neighboring islands extending 

 as far as New Guinea. The following state- 

 ments occur in a recent summary of data 

 regarding this spice : "Nutmegs and mace 

 are almost exclusively obtained from the 

 Banda islands, although the cultivation has 

 been attempted with varying success in 

 Singapore, Penang, Bengal, Reunion, Brazil, 

 French Guiana and the West Indies. The 

 trees yield fruit in 8 years after the seed is 

 sown, reach their prime in 25 years, and bear 

 60 years longer. Almost the whole surface of 

 the Banda islands is planted with nutmeg 

 trees. The light, volcanic soil, shade and 

 excessive moisture of these islands, where it 

 rains more or less during the whole year, 

 seem exactly to suit the requirements of the 

 nutmeg tree. 



"In Bencoolen the tree bears all the year 

 round, but the chief harvest takes place in 

 the later months, and the smaller one in 

 April, May and June. In the Banda islands 

 the fruits are gathered in small, neatly made 

 oval baskets at the end of a bamboo. This 

 prevents bruising, the baskets being opened 

 half their length on one side and furnished 

 with 2 small prongs projecting from the 

 top, by which the fruit stalk is broken, the 

 fruit falling into the basket. The ripe fruit 

 is about 2 inches in diameter, of a rounded 

 pear shape, and when mature splits into 

 halves, exposing a crimson arillus surround- 

 ing a single seed. When the fruit is col- 

 lected the pericarp is first removed, then the 

 arillus is carefully stripped off and dried, in 

 which state it forms the mace of commerce. 

 The seed consists of a thin, hard testa or 

 shell enclosing a kernel, which, when dried, 

 is the nutmeg. To prepare the nutmeg for 

 use the seed enclosing the kernel is dried 

 at a gentle heat in a drying house over a 

 small fire for about 2 months, the seeds being 

 turned over every second or third day. When 

 thoroughly dry, the shells are broken with 

 a wooden mallet or a flat board and the 

 nutmegs picked out and sorted, the small, 

 inferior ones being removed for the expres- 

 sion of the fixed oil which they contain, and 

 which forms the so called oil of mace. The 

 dried nutmegs are then rubbed over with 

 dry sifted lime. The process of liming, 

 which originated at the time when the Dutch 

 held a monopoly of the trade, was com- 

 menced with a view of preventing the germ- 

 ination of the seeds, which were formerly 

 immersed 3 months in milk of lime for this 

 purpose; and a preference is still manifested 



in some countries for nutmegs so prepared. 



"There is a remarkable difference between 

 the Banda trees and those of the Straits. 

 This has to do with their respective heights. 

 The tree of the Straits is a mere shrub 

 compared with that of the Banda islands, 

 where 50 to 60 feet is no uncommon size. 

 The male tree is much shorter lived than the 

 fruit-bearing one. The Banda fruit hangs 

 on longer and more slender stalks than that 

 of the Straits, the skin is more free from all 

 blemish, more thin relatively to the fruit 

 and of more uniform pronortion. The Ban- 

 da manner of breaking the fruit when dried 

 is also superior to that followed in the 

 Straits. This is done by spreading them on 

 a sort of drumhead and striking them with 

 flat pieces of board. Several are cracked at 

 each stroke and resupplied as fast by a man 

 standing alongside. One man in this way 

 w T ill' break more nuts without injury than 

 half a dozen men after the Straits fashion. 



"It is computed that each female tree at 

 full maturity, under careful culture, will 

 yield 10 pounds of nutmegs and about one 

 pound of mace annually. Nutmegs are di- 

 vided into 2 varieties, royal and green. The 

 former are of a larger size and have their 

 mace longer than the nttt, which, in the lat- 

 ter, is not entirely enveloped by the leafy 

 network. Good nutmegs are distinguished 

 by being large, round and heavy, finely 

 marbled and of a light gray color." 



VEGETABLES IN ANCIENT ROME. 



The ancient Romans had in their gardens 

 in early times beans, peas, lentils, chick- 

 peas, and onions. As pointed out by a recent 

 writer, "The potato was, of course, wanting 

 to the Roman garden, but Cato considered 

 the cabbage the king of vegetables, and it 

 is likely that many varieties of the plant 

 were cultivated in his day." He thought it 

 surpassed all other vegetables, and liked it 

 "both cooked and raw, dressed with vine- 

 gar." The best artichokes came from Car- 

 thage, whence had been imported the Malum 

 punicum, or pomegranate ; also, apparently, 

 the finest figs. One recollects the clever 

 use made by the same Cato of a bunch of 

 fresh Carthaginian fisrs, which, being sud- 

 denly produced from beneath his toga, were 

 intended to convince his hearers that great 

 Carthage was become too near a commercial 

 riva 1 in the Mediterranean for the security 

 of Rome. 



"Fennel and lettuce, both, among the Phoe- 

 nicians, sacred to Adonis, were regarded, as 

 they still are here, particularly good for the 

 'Minister of the Interior' ; also as sleep pro- 

 ducers. Venus is said to have salved the 



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