whereof they hardly know the names or situations, and the 
constant clandestine trade carried on in that article by the Pa- 
puas, Cerammas, Bonginnese, and Chinese, the consumption of, 
and demand for, cloves have been so much decreased, that the 
monopoly is no longer worth the expences of retaining it exclu- 
sively ; and in regard to nutmegs, the Hollanders have been 
very much the dupes of their own avarice, for, confining as much 
as possible the cultivation of that spice to the islands of Banda, 
it was nearly annihilated there in the year 1778, by a violent 
hurricane and earthquake, and few supplies of any importance 
were obtained thence for several years afterwards. 
The Nutmeg Tree comes into bearing in about eight or ten 
years, and has ripe fruit upon it at every season ; but the har- 
vest of it principally takes place at three periods of the year ; in 
July and August, when the nutmegs are most abundant, but 
the mace is thinner than in the smaller fruits, which are ga- 
thered during November, which is the second time of collect- 
ing it ; the third harvest takes place in the month of March 
or beginning of April, when the nuts, as well as the mace, are 
in the greatest perfection, their number not being so great, and 
the season being dry. The outer pulpy coat is removed, and 
afterwards the mace, with a knife. The nuts are placed over 
a slow fire, when their shell becomes very brittle, and the seeds 
or nutmegs drop out ; these are then soaked in sea-water, and 
impregnated with lime, a process which answers the double 
purpose of securing the seeds from the attack of insects, and of 
destroying their vegetating property. It farther prevents the 
evaporation of the aroma. The mace is simply dried in the 
sun, and then sprinkled with salt-water, after which it is fit for 
exportation. 
From the Nutmeg, as well as from the Mace, an essential 
oil is obtained by distillation, and a less volatile one by expres- 
sion. 
The uses of both parts of the fruit of Myristica officinalis 
are well known, whether in a medicinal or economical point of 
view. The pulpy coat is preserved with sugar, but not until 
after its acrid principle has been removed by repeated wash- 
ings. 
