4 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
others of the spices in various arts. All these uses add 
to the commercial demand, and are of considerable 
importance to the planter. 
Of late years there can be no doubt that the use of 
spice as flavouring by European nations has consider- 
ably diminished. In the twelfth and later centuries the 
use of spice in every household was very large, and was 
only regulated by their cost. But the last few years 
have shown a certain amount of falling off in the 
demand for spiced foods, and the spice-box is not so 
important a household utensil as it was. Artificial 
flavourings, too, have made some amount of alteration 
in the demand. But if profits on spices are not as large 
as they were in the days when, next to gold, spices were 
considered most worth risking life and money for, there 
is still a good profit to be obtained by their cultivation. 
The trade is still large among European nations, and 
the demand by orientals, the greatest spice-lovers, is as 
large as ever it was. 
TROPICAL REGIONS 
The area included in this work as the area of the 
tropics lies between latitude 25° N. and 25° S., and 
this includes a considerable variation in regions and 
climates. A great portion is occupied by the tropical 
rain forest region, where the air is constantly moist and 
there is practically no dry season. This is the great 
spice-region, where almost every spice mentioned in this 
work can be cultivated with success. The rainfall is 
heavy and constant, that is to say, a little falls every 
day or two, and at the breaks of the monsoon there are 
generally some very heavy falls, continuing for a whole 
day or two with little or no break. The temperature 
is high, but not so great as a little farther north. In 
this area, beside the rain forest region, we have regions 
in which there is a distinct dry period, lasting for some 
months, and followed by heavy rains. During the dry 
weather the temperature is very high. Such trees as 
