IX 
LONG PEPPER 
823 
to give an artificial strength to wines, beer, spirits, and 
vinegar. Though it is by no means an injurious drug, 
an Act was passed in the reign of George III. that no 
brewer or beer-dealer should have any Grains of Paradise 
in their possession, or use it in making beer, under a 
penalty of a fine of £200, and any druggist selling it to 
a brewer was fined £500. 
The use of it is not, however, so great nowadays as 
it was in medieval times, when it was one of the main 
exports from Western Africa. 
It is probable that then the shorter distance which 
it had to be conveyed, as compared with that of the 
black pepper of the Indian region, caused its trade to be 
so extensive, especially as from the same region Guinea 
pepper [Piper Glusii, DC.), was exported in some quan- 
tity, though it has long ago disappeared from our 
markets. 
Melegueta has, however, always held its own as an 
independent spice, and Queen Elizabeth is said to have 
been very partial to it. 
Cultivation . — I have no record of its cultivation 
commercially anywhere, but it could doubtless be 
easily cultivated in the same way as cardamoms, were 
there a sufficient demand for it. The wild plants, how- 
ever, seem sufficient to supply all that is needed for the 
trade. 
