BLACK PEPPER. 13 
and penetrating odour, particularly after rain, and in 
the night. 
The Italians, by a very simple operation, prepare 
from the flowers of jasmine a grateful perfume. They 
soak cotton-wool in some kind of scentless vegetable 
oil, and then place, in glass vessels, alternate layers of 
this and of the flowers. After having been left in this 
state some days, the flowers are found to have given 
the whole of their fragrance to the oil in the cotton : 
they are then separated, and the oil is pressed out and 
removed into small glass bottles for use. 
20. BLACK PEPPER is the dried berry of a climbing or 
trailing plant (Piper nigrum, Fig. 3) which gmzos in the East 
Indies, and in most of the islands of the Indian Sea. 
Its stem has numerous joints, and throws out roots at every 
joint. The leaves, which are somewhat egg-shaped, and pointed, 
are of a brownish colour, and have each seven very strong nerves. 
The flowers are small and white. 
In the cultivation of pepper it is customary to mark 
out the grounds into regular squares of about six feet 
each, which is the usual distance allowed for the plants. 
And, as these have not sufficient strength to support 
themselves in an upright growth, they are generally 
placed near a thorny kind of shrub, among the branches 
of which they creep like ivy. When they have run to a 
considerable height, the twigs, on which the berries 
hang, bend down, and the fruit appears in long slender 
clusters, of from twenty to fifty grains, somewhat re- 
sembling, but much more compact than, bunches of 
currants. The berries are green when young, but 
change to a bright red colour when ripe. As soon as 
they begin to redden, they are in a fit state to be ga- 
thered. When gathered, they are spread upon mats in 
the sun, where they are suffered to remain till they 
become dry, black, and shrivelled, as we see them. 
In this state they have the denomination of black pepper. 
White pepper is nothing more than the best and 
soundest of the berries, gathered when they are fully 
