XIII 
GINGER 
391 
Jamaica. In India, it appears that only one variety is 
cultivated, but the quality of the product varies with 
different localities, and such names as Malabar, or 
Cochin, Kumaon, or Bengal are names of the product 
as exported from those localities. 
Canton ginger, the preserved or green ginger, seems 
to be a more distinct variety. The rhizome is thicker 
and more succulent, hence it is used for the sweetmeat, 
and it is said that it is not possible in Canton to dry it. 
It is probable that this, to some extent, is due to the 
absence of sufficient sun-heat in the season when the 
ginger is dug, but the rhizome is certainly more juicy. 
There was formerly a little confusion as to the plant 
which was the source of the Canton ginger. In 1891, 
plants of what was supposed to be the Canton ginger 
were sent to Kew Gardens, and eventually turned out 
to be those of the greater Galangal, Alpinia galanga. 
Further investigation showed that by an error the 
wrong plant had been sent to Kew, and it was shown 
by Professor P. Groom, Mr. Ford, and others, both from 
the structure of the rhizomes and by the cultivation of 
the plant, that Canton ginger was Zingiber officinale. 
Mr. Ford showed, too, that there was a form of the same 
plant grown im the mountain districts of China, which 
had a smaller and dryer rhizome, and was prepared dry 
by the Chinese, who, however, valued it more as a spice. 
NAMES 
Ginger. — French, Gingembre\ German, Ingwer\ 
Hindu, plant, Adrah, dried rhizome, Sonth ; Tamil, 
fresh root, Inji, dried, Shuhhu ; Arabic, Zanjabil ; 
Malay, Haliya. 
HISTORY 
Ginger seems to have been one of the earliest of the 
Oriental spices known to Europeans, and was certainly 
known to the Greeks and Komans. The name Zingiber 
(whence the word ginger) seems to be derived from the 
