414 



SPICES FEAdEATfT WOODS. 



IMPORTS INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



NUTMEGS, WILD AND CULTIVATED. 



Imports. Home consiimp. 



1847 

 1848 

 1849 

 18o0 

 1851 

 1852 



lbs. 



367,936 

 336,420 

 224,021 

 315,126 

 358,320 

 357,940 



lbs. 

 150,657 

 167,143 

 178,417 

 167,683 

 194,132 

 239,113 



1847 

 1848 

 1849 

 1850 

 1851 

 1852 



MACE. 



Imports, 

 lbs. 

 60,265 

 47,572 

 45,978 

 77,337 

 77,863 

 61,697 



Consumption. 



lbs. 

 . 18,821 

 . 19,712 

 , 20,605 

 . 21,997 

 . 21,695 

 . 21,480 



1841 

 1842 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 

 1846 

 1847 



MACE EXPORTED — ACTUAL GROWTH OF SINGAPORE. 



Quantity— piculs. Value— £ 



25A 



72" 



40| 



16| 



71 



8 



75 



583 

 1,616 



943 



359 

 1,616 



179 

 1,661 



109 piculs of imported mace were also re-sMpped in 1S47. 

 40,000 lbs. of mace were imported into the United Kingdom 

 from India in 1848. 



GINaER, OALANaALE, AND CAEDAMOMS. 



The rhizome of Zingiher qfficinals (Amomuni Zingiher), consti- 

 tutes the ginger of commerce, which is imported chiefly from the 

 East and West Indies. It is also grown in China. In the young 

 state the rhizomes are fleshy and slightly aromatic, and they are 

 then used as preserves, or prepared in syrup ; in a more ad- 

 vanced stage the aroma is fully developed, their texture is more 

 woody, and they become fit for ordinary ginger. The inferior 

 sorts, when dried after immersion in hot water, form black ginger. 

 The bbst roots are scraped, washed, and simply dried in the sun 

 with care, and then they receive the name of white ginger. The 

 rhizome contains an acid resin and volatile oil, starch and gum. 

 It is used medicinally as a tonic and carminative, in the form of 

 powder, syrup, and tincture. 



The root stocks of AJpinia racemosa, A. Gcilanga, and many 

 other plants of the order, have the same aromatic and pungent 

 properties as ginger. 



The consumption of ginger is about 13,000 or 14,000 cwt. a 

 year. Of 16,004 cwt. imported in 1840, 5,381 came from the 

 British "West Indies, 9,727 from the East India Company's pos- 

 sessions and Ceylon, and 896 cwt. from Western Africa. 



The difference between the black and white ginger of the shops 

 is ascribed by Dr. P. Browne and others to different methods 

 of curing the rhizomes ; but this is scarcely sufiicient to account 

 for them, and I cannot help suspecting the existence of some 

 difference in the plants themselves. That this real!}' exists is 



