536 
India  s  Spices  and  Condiments. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  November,  1907. 
can,  southern  India.  Mango  ginger  grows  wild  in  Bengal,  India, 
and  in  the  Himalaya  Mountains  as  high  upas  6,000  feet.  It  is  used 
as  a  condiment  and  also  as  a  vegetable.  The  turmeric  is  a  native 
of  south  Asia,  and  is  grown  all  over  India  for  its  rhizome,  or  root 
stock,  which,  when  dried  and  reduced  to  a  powder,  is  used  as  a 
spice  in  curries, 
Cruciferae  are  cultivated  all  over  north  and  central  India,  and  on 
the  western  Himalaya  [Mountains  as  high  up  as  10,000  feet.  The 
seeds  are  crushed  and  the  oil  extracted  therefrom,  and  the  powder 
of  the  seed  is  used  as  a  condiment.  The  oil  is  the  most  valuable 
part  of  the  cruciferae.  Mint,  called  sometimes  the  marsh  mint, 
grows  abundantly  in  the  western  Himalayas,  and  is  eaten  by  the 
natives  as  a  condiment,  Peppermint  grows  well  when  it  receives 
proper  care.  Spearmint  grows  all  over  the  plains  of  India,  and  is 
much  used  in  curries  and  other  forms  of  food.  Nutmeg  and  mace 
are  cultivated  in  south  India.  In  parts  of  India  there  is  a  nut  1  1 2 
inches  long  and  a  half  inch  thick,  which  is  much  like  the  true  nut- 
meg, and  is  offered  for  sale  as  such,  but  it  is  not  so  good. 
PEPPER,  MISCELLANEOUS  ARTICLES,  AND  EXPORTATIONS. 
Long  pepper  is  a  perennial  shrub  of  eastern  India,  Nepal,  and 
east  Bengal  and  Ceylon.  The  fruit  of  this  shrub  is  dried  and  used 
as  a  spice.  The  black  pepper,  which  is  a  climber,  also  grows  well 
in  India.  The  berries  of  the  black  pepper  are  eaten  as  a  condiment 
in  curry,  and  in  powder  form,  is  the  black  table  pepper  of  the  West. 
The  following  spices  and  condiments  are  also  grown  in  India, 
either  as  indigenous  or  introduced  plants  :  Fennel,  hops,  black  cumin, 
sweet  basil  (the  seeds  and  leaves  of  sweet  basil  are  eaten  by  the 
natives  of  India  as  a  cooling  condiment')  ;  dill,  used  in  curry  ;  anise, 
introduced  from  Persia  by  the  Mohammedans  and  is  used  lavishly 
in  India  "sweets;"  cubebs,  a  native  of  Java  and  Sumatra;  fenu- 
greek, which  grows  wild  in  Kashmir  and  the  Punjab,  and  cultivated 
generally  on  the  plains  of  India;  scitaminea,  native  of  India,  and 
used  as  a  spice;  ginger,  cultivated  in  India  for  its  root,  but  not 
known  in  its  wild  state;  spikenard,  which  grows  all  over  India,  and 
is  used  as  a  medicine  for  coughs,  and  the  leaves  for  food,  usually 
known  as  "  greens." 
Exports  of  spices  from  India  for  1906-7  dropped  from  83,000,000 
in  value  in  1905-6  to  S2,000,000  in  1906-7,  a  decline  of  33.69  per 
