43^  Useful  Varieties  of  Nutmegs.  {Am-AJu0^'i892arm* 
doubt  that  all  these  remarks  apply  to  the  Myristica  fatua,  Houtt.,  a 
tree  which  certainly  grows  wild  in  Banda  and  Amboyna,  perhaps, 
also  in  other  of  the  Molucca  Islands.  Its  fruit  is  scarcely  at  all 
aromatic  when  fresh,  in  the  dry  state  not  at  all,  while  the  mace 
smells  disagreeable  and  not  aromatic.  The  fruit  is,  therefore,  only 
used  medicinally  in  that  island  for  dysentery,  headache,  or  as  an 
aphrodisiac,  and  they  were  brought  from  thence  only  as  curiosities. 
As  the  intercourse  between  the  Moluccas  and  New  Guinea 
increased,  an  entirely  new  kind  of  nutmeg  came  into  the  hands  of 
Europeans,  the  Myristica  argentea,  Warb.  That  was  probably  first 
ncticed  in  1666.  Since  the  middle  of  the  1 8th  century  it  became 
an  article  of  commerce  in  Eastern  Asia.  Towards  the  end  of  that 
century  it  was  brought  to  Europe,  and  at  the  present  time  it  is  the 
most  important  article  of  export  from  New  Guinea.  Nevertheless 
this  nutmeg  remained  undescribed  and  unknown,  as  well  as  the 
plant  by  which  it  is  produced. 
Warburg  succeeded  in  obtaining  information  on  this  point 
through  the  assistance  of  a  native  who  was  persuaded  to  show  him 
some  of  the  trees  in  Dutch  New  Guinea.  They  were  characterized 
by  large  leaves  having  a  silvery  appearance  at  the  under  side,  and 
hence  the  name. 
Next  to  Myristica  fragrans  the  M.  argentea  is  certainly  the  most 
important  variety,  and  that  which  has  the  greatest  future.  The 
odor  is  not  so  delicate  as  that  of  the  true  nutmeg,  but  that  may  be 
due  to  the  circumstance  that  it  is  not  prepared  and  packed  with  as 
much  care  as  the  true  kind.  The  export  from  the  province  of  Onin 
is  estimated  by  Beccari  to  have  amounted  to  about  125  pounds  at 
the  middle  of  the  18th  century,  and  it  exceeded  in  importance  that 
of  all  other  produce.  Since  then  the  regular  service  of  steamers 
has  led  to  a  great  increase  in  this  trade.  Formerly,  the  nutmegs 
were  sent  in  small  parcels  by  ships  to  Banda,  there  treated  in  the 
same  way  as  true  nutmegs  and  sometimes  mixed  with  them.  Now 
they  are  all  taken  direct  to  Macassar  where  they  are  shelled  and 
dusted  with  lime.  The  price  of  them  in  Macassar  is  about  one- 
third  that  of  the  best  quality  of  true  nutmegs. 
While  formerly  these  nutmegs  were  used  only  in  the  Malay 
Archipelago,  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  etc.,  by  the  natives,  probably 
on  account  of  their  cheapness,  as  Para  papua  in  the  Malay  country, 
as  Aniz  moscada  in  the  Philippines,  and  came  only  occasionally  to 
