|  F£3  1  1898  j 
THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
FEBRUARY,  1898. 
IN  THE  LAND  OF  GINGER— JAMAICA. 
By  F.  B.  Kilmer. 
The  books  state  that  "  Zingiber  officinale,  Roscoe  (Amomum 
zingiber),  is  a  native  of  Asia,  and  that  it  has  been  introduced  into 
most  tropical  countries,  and  is  now  found  in  the  West  Indies,  South 
America,  tropical  western  Africa,  and  Queensland  in  Australia." 
But  the  vial  handed  over  the  drugstore  counter,  even  though  it  may 
contain  a  weak  decoction  of  pepper,  will  invariably  be  labeled 
"  Jamaica  Ginger. "  In  these  notes  we  shall,  therefore,  study  this 
plant  as  seen  in  its  popular  habitat,  thus  keeping  in  sympathy  with 
the  West  India  planter,  to  whom  the  only  known  spot  where  ginger 
grows  is  in  his  sunlit  garden. 
In  the  track  of  the  ocean  steamers  sailing  from  New  York  or 
Liverpool  toward  the  southern  continent,  as  they  pass  from  the  cold 
grey  waters  of  the  Atlantic  into  the  warm  blue  waters  of  the  Carib- 
bean Sea,  at  a  point  in  the  windward  passage  100  miles  west  of  San 
Domingo,  90  miles  south  of  Cuba,  lies  Jamaica.  Donnely  created 
his  island  of  "  Atlantis  "  in  these  waters.  Assuming  his  story  to  be 
true,  St.  Jago,  the  gem  of  the  Antilles — Ginger  Land — is  a  favor, 
able  location  for  his  Eden.  By  a  vivid  imagination  we  might,  from 
the  present  inhabitants,  trace  a  lineage  back  through  Ham,  and 
arrive  at  a  picture  of  Adam  planting  ginger  in  the  first  garden. 
As  the  traveler  approaches  Ginger  Land  he  is  impressed  with  the 
magnificence  and  beauty  he  sees  outlined  against  a  perfect  sky, 
terrace  upon  terrace  of  mountains  upon  mountains  spring  into 
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