750
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
Fro. 159.
Piper nigrum.
Sp. Char. — Stem shrubby, radicant, climbing*terete. Leaves ovate or elliptical, acuminate*occasionally somewhat oblique, subcordate, fi veto seven-nerved, coriaceous, smooth, recurved ^the margin, glauco-greenish beneath. Spadicf*shortly pedunculated, pendulous. Fruits di*'tinct (Blume, op. cit .)
Stem eight to twelve feet long, jointed, dick*)'tomous. Fruit at first green, then red, afterward®black.
According to Dr. Roxburgh (FI. Indica , vol- *■p. 153), Piper trioicum is cultivated, and yieldsexcellent pepper.
Hab. —Cultivated in various parts of India and its islands (Roxburgh) *also in the West Indies .
Preparation. —When any of the berries on a spadix change h'° ingreen to red, the whole are considered fit for gathering; for if they areallowed to become fully ripe, they are somewhat less acrid, and, moreovereasily drop off. When collected they are spread out, and dried in d' esun, and the stalks separated by hand-rubbing. They are afterward*winnowed (Marsden, Hist, of Sumatra , 3rd ed. p. 137). The dried aodshrivelled berries constitute black pepper (piper nigrum).
White pepper (piper album ) is prepared from the best and soundsgrains, taken at their most perfect stage of maturity. These being soak edin water, swell, and burst their tegument, which is afterwards carefulseparated, by drying in the sun, liand-rubbing, and winnowing (Marsde»>op. cit.) r . i
Commerce. —The pepper countries extend from about the longd uof 96° to that of 115° E., beyond which no pepper is to be found; alUthey reach from 5° S. latitude to about 12° N., where it again ceases-The following estimate of the production of pepper is drawn up by 'Crawford (M‘Culloch, Diet, of Comm.)
Production of Pepper. lbs.
Sumatra (west coast ). 20,000,000
Do. (east do). 8,000,000
Islands in the Straits of Malacca . 3,000,000
Malabar. 4,000,000
Totai - . 50,000,000
In the year 1838, the number of pounds of pepper which paid did.(Is. per lb.) was 2,169,438. Pepper is usually imported in bags. aDescription. Black pepper is round, covered externally " ^ rbrownish-black, corrugated layer (the remains of the succulent portin' 1 .the berry), which may be readily removed by softening it in water.
"ally we have a hard, whitish, spherical, smooth seed, which is hornytern ally, but farinaceous internally. The finest kind of black pepl’**/called shot pepper, from its density and hardness. Fulton's decortte a ‘pepper is black pepper deprived of its husk by mechanical trilu ratl ‘ )