177 



dred weights being imported for the extraction of the principle 

 ooumarine, used by perfumers as an ingredient in some fluid ex- 

 tracts ; or they are ground for use in. sachet powders. The beans 

 are also used for placing in drawers with linen. (Leguminosee.) 



48. El^ts guixeexsis, Jacq. — The Oil Palm of Western Africa does not 



attain any great height, not more than 20 or 30 feet. The trunks 

 are thick, and are covered with the remains of the stalks of dead 

 leaves. Below the large tuft of prickly-stalked leaves, are to be 

 seen the dense heads of vermillion or yellowish fruits. 



The palm oil is obtained from the outer fleshy coating of the 

 fruit, bv boiling in water and skimming off the oil. It is of a 

 bright orange-red colour, with the consistence of butter, and when 

 quite fresh, has a pleasant odour like violets. It is exported in im- 

 mense quantities for the manufacture of candles and soap. (Pa*moe.) 



49. Ellettaria Cakdamomum, Jlaton. — The Cardamom plant is somewhat 



like ffin^er, but the flower stalks grow out horizontally close to 

 do* o • n 



the ground. The authors of Phartnacographia give an excellent 

 description of its cultivation and uses. It grows abundantly, 

 both wild and under cultivation, in the moist, shady moun- 

 tain forests on the -Malabar coast at an elevation of 2,500 to 5,000 

 feet above the sea. This region has a mean temperature of 72° F. 

 and a mean rainfall of 121 inches. 



The methods of cultivation, which vary in the different districts, 

 may be thus described : — 



Previous to the commencement of the rains the cultivators ascend 

 the mountain sides, and seek in the shady evergreen forests a spot 

 where some cardamom plants are growing. Here the}' make small 

 clearings, in which the admission of light occasions the plant to de- 

 velop in abundance. The cardamom plants attain 2 to 3 feet in 

 height during the following monsoon, after which the ground is 

 again cleared of weeds, protected with a fence and left to itself for 

 a year. About two years after the first clearing the plants begin 

 to flower, and five months later ripen some fruits, but a full crop is 

 not got till at least a year after. The plants continue productive 

 six or seven years. It is' said that not more than 28 lbs can be got 

 from an acre of forest. 



Cardamoms begin to ripen in October, and the gathering con- 

 tinues during dry weather for two or three months. All the fruits 

 on a scape do not become ripe at the same time, yet too generally 

 the whole scape is gathered at once and dried — to the manifest de- 

 triment of the drug. In some plantations the cardamoms are 

 gathered in a more reasonable fashion. As they are collected, the 

 fruits are carried to the houses, laid out for a few days on mats, 

 then stripped from their scapes, and the drying completed by a 

 gentle fire-heat. In Coorg the fruit is stripped from the scape be- 

 fore drying, and the drying is sometimes effected wholly by sun- 

 heat. 



Cardamom seeds are an agreeable aromatic, often administered in 

 conjunction with other medicines. As an ingredient in curry 

 powder, they have also some use as a condiment. But the con- 



