Ill 
NUTMEGS AND MACE 
149 
WlieD they are quite dry, the shell or testa must be 
cracked off. This is usually done by striking them on 
the end with a wooden truncheon. They must not be 
struck on the side or some of the oil cells will be ruptured 
by the bruise, and a black mark will be left, which mars 
their appearance. In Banda the seeds are spread on a 
hat kind of drum-head, where a man strikes them with 
a hat piece of board, so that several are cracked at a 
blow. Another man standing by sweeps them off as 
they are cracked, and supplies fresh ones. A man 
working in this way will crack more nuts whthout 
injury than half a dozen men with the truncheon. 
A machine for cracking nutmegs was invented by 
Mr. John Eudder, a native of Barbados, about 1902, 
and was much in favour in Grenada. It consisted of a 
long, high, narrow box, within which revolves a wooden 
wheel, the rim of which is as wide as the box and is 
formed of a series of wide, deep sockets. The nutmegs 
are fed to the machine by a funnel-shaped box, into 
which they are dropped at the top and fall into the 
sockets, where they are dashed against the end of the 
box. The force with which they strike cracks the shell 
and the kernel and shells fall to the bottom of the box. 
The whole machine was made of white pine- wood, and 
cost £12 :10s. It would crack a barrelful of nuts in 
two minutes. Most of the big exporters of nutmegs 
in Grenada used the invention, and one who exported 
600 barrels a year said he could not do without it. 
Some, however, objected to it on the ground that it 
was apt to bruise the kernel. The inventor declared, 
however, that it only damaged nutmegs which were 
insufficiently cured or unhealthy. 
After the seed is taken from its shell it is liable to 
the attacks of beetles, especially if it is left for any 
length of time in the store or godown. To obviate this, 
formerly at least, the Dutch used to lime the nutmegs. 
This was done either by sprinkling them profusely or 
rubbing by hand with powdered lime, or by dipping 
them in a mixture of lime and water. In Banda, 
