THE 
JOURNAL 
OP THE 
THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO 
AND 
EASTERN ASIA. 
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE NUTMEG AND ITS 
CULTIVATION. 
By Thomas Oxley, Esq., A. B. 
Senior Surgeon of the Settlement of Prince of Wales' Island , 
Singapore and Malacca , 
The Myristica Moschata, or true Nutmeg 1 , is known to botanists 
as a tree belonging to the Natural Family Myristicacse, Class Due- 
cia, Order Monodelphia of the Linnsean System. It would be super¬ 
fluous to enter into a minute description of a plant already so well 
described, particularly by Roxburgh: I shall therefore merely no¬ 
tice some peculiarities that deserve attention. The tree, like many 
of its class, has a strong tendency to become Montecias, and Planters 
In general are rather well pleased at this habit, thinking they secure 
a double advantage by having the male, and* female flowers on the 
same plant. This however is delusive, and being against the order of 
nature, the produce of such trees is invariably inferior, shewing itself 
in the production of double nuts and other deformities. It is best, 
therefore, to have only female trees with a due proportion of males. 
But few have the moral resolution to cut down the Monsecias tree, 
on the principle that something is better than nothing, but they for¬ 
get that the Monsecias plants having much fewer flowers, it will take 
three or four of them to yield the same amount of pollen as the true 
male, and as for the produce yielded by such trees, that of one good 
female is worth a dozen of the other. 
The female flowers, which are merely composed of a trifid calyx 
and no corolla, when produced by a tree in full vigor, are perfectly 
VOlv. II. NO. X. OCTOBER, 1848. 0 2 
