new, and full of iuice, from the Indies to Antwerpe : and further, that the same had budded and grown in 
the said Dries’ garden.” 
The spice was common in Shakespeare’s time, and, we believe, for centuries previously: in Twelfth 
Night, when Sir Toby says “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and 
ale ?” the clown adds, “Yes, by Saint Anne ; and ginger shall be hot i’ the mouth too.” 
Experience shows that in situations where ginger is extensively grown, when the stalks are 
wholly withered, the roots are fit to take up, which is generally in January or February. Being picked 
and cleaned, they are gradually scalded in boiling water : after this they are spread, and exposed to the sun, 
till the whole is sufficiently cured ; they are then divided into parcels of about one hundred weight each, 
and put into bags for the market : this is called black ginger. The white is never scalded, but every root 
is picked, washed, and scraped separately, and then dried in the sun and air. The bleached ginger, now so 
much esteemed, owes its whiteness to the action of chlorine ; and although a more elegant, or rather a more 
delicate looking spice, it is far less aromatic than the ordinary white or black sorts. 
To preserve this root in syrup, it is dug when the shoots do not exceed five or six inches in height. 
Being picked and washed, they are scalded till tender : then put into cold water, and scraped and peeled 
gradually : this operation may last three or four days, during which time the roots are kept in water, con- 
stantly renewed. They are then put into jars, and covered with a thin syrup, which after two or three 
days is shifted, and a richer put on : this is sometimes again removed, and even a fourth occasionally 
employed ; but it seldom requires more than three syrups. The shifted syrups are diluted, and made into 
a pleasant liquor, called cool drink. 
Ginger should be chosen in large roots, new, not easily broken, of a fight brownish green colour, and 
of a hot, pungent, aromatic taste. That which is small, dark coloured, soft, or very fibrous, should be 
rejected. It is sometimes imported green from the East Indies. In freight, 16 cwt. of dry, and 20 cwt. 
of green ginger, are allowed to a ton. 
Chemical Analysis. According to the experiments of M. Morin, ginger contains a resinous and 
subresinous matter; a dark blueish green essential oil, acetic acid, acetate of potash, osmazome, gum, some 
vegeto-animal matter, sulphur, starch, and lignin. In Jamaica ginger the starch is very abundant. 
Qualities. The active matter of this root is yielded to alcohol, and in a great measure to water. 
It affords, by distillation, a small quantity of essential oil, upon which the flavour of ginger depends ; while 
its pungency appears to reside in a resino-extractive matter, united with a great quantity of starch, which 
constitutes the chief bulk of this valuable condiment. 
Medical Properties and Uses. This root, which is stimulant and carminative, is principally 
employed as an adjunct to other remedies, to augment their efficacy, or to obviate their griping effects ; 
and is often administered, in substance or in infusion, for flatulent colic, tympanites, and some forms of 
dyspepsia. It also acts as a sialagogue, when chewed : tooth-ache is therefore sometimes relieved by it, 
and by many persons it is recommended in relaxations of the uvula, and tonsils, and in paralysis of the 
muscles of the tongue and fauces. 
We are informed by Dr. Ainsfie, that Europeans in India, of delicate constitutions, frequently use an 
infusion of ginger in place of common tea, and that the natives eat it freely in salads. In China green 
ginger is commonly seen in the vegetable markets, and is there eaten as a common potherb. The ginger 
tribe may be considered as almost exclusively tropical plants, flourishing only in hot countries, hardly any 
of them being found without the tropics. 
Dose. From ten grains to a scruple, in powder. 
Height; leaf stalks about three feet, flower stalks about a foot. 
