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PHARMA COONOSY. 
lowisli or brownish red, glabrous, shiny, somewhat 
translucent, more or less shriveled ; apex acute, base 
somewhat rounded ; pericarp coriaceous, thin ; inter- 
nally witli two or three distinct longitudinal ridges, lon- 
gitudinally striate, two or three-celled, carpels united 
below, dissepiments thin ; seeds 10 to 20, campylotro- 
pous, irregularly circular or obovate, flattened, pointed, 
about 3 to 4 mm. in diameter, 0'5 mm. thick, edge 
slightly thickened, embryo curved, imbedded in the 
endosperm; odor distinct ; taste of pericarp pungent, 
of dissepiments, very pungent. 
Constituents. — A crystalline, pungent principle, 
capsaicin (contained principally in the dissepiments), 
about 002 per cent.; two non pungent alkaloids— one 
volatile and the other crystalline; volatile oil; resin; 
starch ; ash 4 to 6 per cent. 
Allied Plants. — Garden or pod-pepper, also known 
as “ chillies,” is the product of Capsicum annuum, an herb 
extensively cultivated in Hungary, Italy and Spain, 
and this kind is recognized by the German Pharmaco- 
poeia. 
CARDAMOMUM (Cardamom). 
The fruit of Elettaria Cardamomum (Syn. E. repens) 
(Pam. Zingiberacese), a perennial herb indigenous to 
Southern India, and cultivated near the Malabar 
Coast and in Ceylon. The fruit is gathered in autumn — 
either the entire spike when some of the fruits have 
matured, or the full-grown fruits are cut from the 
rachis in succession as they ripen ; they are bleached 
by exposure to the sun, sometimes sulphurous acid or 
steam being also used, after which they are dried and 
freed from extraneous matter. Seeds which have been 
discharged from the capsules are inferior to those 
which have been retained. The commercial varieties 
are known as Malabar and Mysore Cardamom. 
