802
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
to the flower. Male flowers :—Three to five on a peduncle: cdly^ ^pale yellgw, with a reddish pubescence. Female flowers scarcely dinfrom the males, except that the pedicel is frequently solitary.
Fruit pyriform, smooth externally, about the size of a peach,externally by a longitudinal groove. Pericarp fleshy, dehiscing b'nearly equal longitudinal valves. Arillus {mace) large, fleshy, branc ^scarlet; when dry, yellow, brittle, and somewhat homy. Nucleus .Fig. 16!). {nutmeg in the shell, offic.) within the arillus, oval or ,°'j (ir l;
its outer coat {testa, tunica externa, or shell) i s ‘ o[lt
brown, hard, glossy, marked by the mace: its i nner e j,{endopleura seu tunica interna ) closely invests the -and dips down into the substance of the albumen, 8 1 'it a marbled or ruminated appearance. The great b° -^ 0 ,the nutmeg consists of the oleaginous albumen; d s acalled veins are processes of the endopleura, which h‘ ^reddish-brown colour, and abound in oil. Embry'Nutmeg in the the base of the seed ; radicle inferior, hemispherical >shell, sur- tyledons two, large, flat, foliaceous, fan-shaped;rounded by the two-lobed. ^| |f
it ace. 11 ab. —Moluccas, especially the Isle of Banda- j e
Dutch have endeavoured to confine the nutmeg tree to three of thecluster of the Banda isles, viz. Pulo Ay, Banda, and Nera.
Curing. — Mace is prepared for the market by separating it f r0I1 V ()[1nutmeg, and drying it for some days in the sun, when its rich crl1 “ 0l)changes to dusty yellow. Nutmegs require more care in curnio’^taccount of the attacks of an insect (the nutmeg-insect). They aresun-dried for three days; then laid on hurdles and smoke-dried by awood-fire for three months, at the end of which time they are freeo .^j.their shells, and dipped twice or thrice in lime-water, or rather a ^mixture of lime and water, to secure them from the depredations of '^justIt is said that while the nutmegs are in their shells, they are secure a othe attack of these insects (Crawford, Hist, of the Ind. Archip.) . r ceDescription. 1. Of Nutmegs . —The ordinary nutmeg 0 * C °.^ J s ius)(formerly called the female nutmeg,—nux moschata fwmina, Ct ^rarely exceeds an inch in length. Its shape is roundish or elhplike that of the French olive. Externally it is marked with re ^ ^furrows. The colour of the projecting parts is brownish ; thatdepression sometimes whitish, from the lime used in curing (*<>megs), at other times brown {brown nutmegs). Internally if lS Mgt,reddish-gray, with red veins. The odour is strong, but pleasant, p(- cand aromatic. The taste is agreeable and aromatic. Occasionalkind of nutmeg is imported in the shell. A long kind of nutmeg, c Q} -
in the shops, the wild nutmeg in the shell (the male nutmeg ,
chata mas. Clusius ), is frequently met with. Its shape is oblong) . (that of the date; its length about an inch and a half. Its shell is . g jj.somewhat brittle, externally shiny and brown, internally dull, g ra - V ]e owhite. I he contained seed is paler coloured, less furrowed, aI1 lt ,gsaromatic, than in the preceding sort. Sometimes these long nut °^(/iported with the mace dried around them {wild nutmegs c0t .,i',ci)
lit 6
are inn