ZINGIBER OFFICINALE. 
59 
the strained liquor is from one to two ounces twice a day; this 
quantity may be gradually increased. During the operation of this 
medicine, it is best to avoid taking liquids as much as possible, as 
they are apt to induce vomiting. 
Off. The Leaves. 
^ 
ZINGIBER OFFICINALE. 
Narrow-leaved Ginger * 
Class MoNAN DRI A.— Ordfer MoNOGYNlA. 
Nat Ord. Scitamine^e, Linn. Cannae, Juss. 
Gen Char. Anther double. Filament lengthened beyond 
the anther, with a furrowed awl-shaped apex. Style 
received in the furrow of the anther. 
Spec. Char. Bracteas ovate-lanceolate, acute. Nectary 
3-lobed. 
The Ginger plant is a native of the East Indies, and is supposed 
to grow in the greatest perfection on the coast of Malabar,t and 
Bengal. It is also said to grow wild in some parts of America ; but 
Jacquin says " Sylvestrum in America non vidi ; " be that as it may, 
it is now plentifully cultivated in the warmer parts of America, and 
the West India islands, from whence chiefly it is imported into 
Europe. It was first introduced into this country by Mr. P. Miller, 
about the year 173 1,| and is still cultivated in the dry stoves in some 
of our botanic gardens, flowering in September. 
The root is perennial, firm, tuberous, of a compressed roundish 
form, beset with transverse rugJE, covered with ash coloured bark, 
and sends forth many long fibres and otfacts ; the internal substance 
of the younger roots is soft, fleshy and greenish : of the older, it is 
compact and fibrous ; the leaf-stalks are about three feet high, round, 
herbaceous, upright and leafy ; the leaves are linear, lanceolate, or 
* Fig, a. the stjie. . h. The anthers, c. The stigma, d. One of the outer bractfea. 
t We are told by Dr. Ainslie, (Vide Materia ludica) tliat the ginger plant is a 
native of many eastern countries, bat it is no wLere to be found of a finer quality than 
on the coast of Malabar. 
X Hort. Kewensis. It is said to have been raised here before the year 1605, by 
Edward Lord Zoucb. — Ed. 
