PIMENTO. 
261 
variable,  according  to  the  dimensions  of  the  blow-pipe  and  fur- 
nace. It  is,  of  course,  advisable  to  increase  as  much  as  possible 
the  diameter  of  the  former,  so  as  to  diminish  the  bellows'  work, 
bearing  in  mind  that  the  velocity  of  the  gaseous  mixture  has  a 
low  limit,  which  must  not  be  exceeded. — Lond.  Chem.  News, 
March  2,  1866,  from  Oomptes  Rendus,  lxi.  1131. 
PIMENTO. 
As  Pimento  is  included  in  the  Materia  Medica  of  the  Phar- 
macopoeia, the  following  particulars  respecting  its  cultivation, 
given  by  the  correspondent  of  the  leading  daily  paper,  may  in- 
terest our  readers  : — 
"  Out  of  Mincing-lane  and  the  offices  of  colonial  brokers  few 
English  people  know  much  about  pimento.  Yet  it  ranks  third 
among  Jamaica  exports,  and,  next  to  sugar  and  coffee,  makes 
the  most  important  figure  in  the  island  cultivation.  Jamaica  en- 
joys a  monopoly  of  this  product.  Every  attempt  to  carry  the 
seed  to  St.  Domingo  and  Cuba,  and  to  propagate  it  there,  has 
failed,  and  though  the  tree  is  found  in  Yucatan  the  fruit  is  not 
exported  thence.  In  English  households  the  berry  is  known  by 
its  familiar  name  of  i  allspice,'  here  it  is  called  4  Jamaica  pepper,* 
but,  in  the  language  of  price  currents  and  of  commerce,  it  is 
always  pimento.  A  visit  to  a  pimento  '  walk  '  in  the  mountains, 
about  ten  miles  from  Kingston,  enables  me  to  see  something  of 
the  mode  of  cultivation. 
"  This  mountain  estate  comprises  about  800  acres,  on  which, 
apart  from  its  chief  produce,  nearly  every  tropical  fruit  and  vege- 
table that  one  can  mention  grows  in  profusion.  No  large  prop- 
erties adjoin  it,  but  close  by  are  numerous  negro  settlements, 
which  enjoy  the  same  advantages  of  temperate  climate  and  fruit- 
ful soil.  Oranges,  limes,  lemons,  grape  fruit,  shaddocks,  bread 
fruit,  plantains,  bananas,  cocoa-nuts,  the  cabbage  palm,  sugar 
cane,  coffee,  with  yams,  cassava,  arrowroot,  and  ground  provisions 
in  an  endless  variety,  thrive  here.  The  pimento-trees,  which 
yield  the  staple  produce,  grow  in  hundreds.  It  is  a  white- 
trunked,  shapely-tree,  not  unlike  in  shape  and  growth  an  English 
apple-tree,  but  with  a  thicker,  richer  foliage  and  dark,  glistening 
