inde atin ae -Albuminoidss ‘2 >...) es 4.38 Volatile Oil, . . . 3t04% Nitrogen, Rr eens we .70 excdsOne. i, . << 6.105 . Tannin Equivalent; ...10.97 Crude Fiber, . . . . 14.83 Oxygen Required, . . 2.81 The best adulterant is baked barley. The specific gravity of the volatile oil is 1.04 to 1.05 at 15 degrees C. Pimento meal loses its aromatic flavor very rapidly. *The taste of allspice is warm, aromatic, pungent, and slightly astringent, and it imparts its flavor to water * State of Michigan, Dairy and Food Commission. [79.1 and all its virtue to alcohol. The infusion with water is of a brown color, and reddens litmus paper. All- spice yields volatile oil by distillation, a green fixed oil, a fatty substance in yellowish flakes, and tannin, gum, resin, sugar, coloring matter, malic and galic acids, saline matter, moisture and lignin. The green oil has the burning, aromatic taste of pimento, and is supposed to be the acrid principle. Upon this, therefore, together with the volatile oil, the active properties of the berries depend. ‘The shell con- tains 10 per cent. of volatile oil, and perhaps a little chlorophyl. Allspice is reported to contain an alkaloid having the odor of caneine. ‘The volatile oil, which is used as a flavoring in alcoholic solution, is of a brownish-red, clear appearance, and has the odor and taste of pimento, but is warmer and more pungent. It is readily soluble in alcohol, and if two drops of the oil be dissolved in one fluid drachm of alcohol, and a drop of ferric chloride test solution be added, a bright green color will be pro- duced. If one C. C. of the oil be shaken with twenty C. C. of hot water it should not give more than a scarcely perceptible acid reaction with litmus paper. If, after cooling, the liquid be passed through a wet filter, the clear filtrate will produce, with a drop of ferric chloride test solution, only a transient greyish green, but not a blue or violet color, a fact which indicates the absence of carbolic acid. Pimento oil consists, like the oil of cloves, of two dis- tinct oils, a hght and heavy oil, separated by distilling the oil from caustic potassa. The light oil passes over, leav- ing the heavy oil behind, combined with the potassa. The heavy oil may be recovered by distilling the residue with sulphuric acid. The heavy oil has the acid property of combining with the alkalides, forming crystallized com- pounds, which is identical with the eugenol from the oil of cloves, from which is prepared the vanillin of com- merce. Powdered allspice is often adulterated with clove stems, peas, almond shells, cracker dust, etc. [ so ] ee wrMwmre CINNAMON AND CASSIA Ceylon 5 Sargon Batavia 6 Cassia Liguea bud Cassia Liguea 7 Leaf stalk or flowering twig Java CHAPTER IX CINNAMON AND CASSIA Robbed of your bark in masses large, It’s sent abroad by ship and barge; And India’s fragrance you bestow, In summer climes and frigid snow. HE cinnamon tree has been known to live two hundred years and its history is nearly as old as the history of man. It appears to have been the first spice sought after in all Oriental voyages, and is one of the few condiments that has been honored with a price that only the wealthy can buy. Both cinnamon and cassia are mentioned as precious odoriferous substances in the Masonic writings. Bible history mentions cinna- mon at a very early date in Exodus, Chap. X XX, 23; in Proverbs, Chap. VII, 17; in Song of Solomon, Chap. IV, 14, being then introduced by the Pheenicians. It was likewise known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of kinnamomun. Vespasian, on his return from Palestine, dedicated to the Goddess of Peace, in one of the temples of the Capitol, garlands of cinnamon enclosed in polished gold, and in the temple built on Mount Palatine by the Empress Augusta in honor of Augustus Cesar, her husband, was placed a root of the cinnamon tree set in a golden cup. It is recorded that two hundred and ten burthens of spice were consumed on the funeral pile of Sylla, and that Nero burnt at the obsequies of his wife, Poppza, a quantity of cinnamon and cassia exceeding the whole importation of one year. Dr. Carl Schumann’s Kirtische unter Suchungen uber die Zimtlander, published as a supplement to Peter- mann’s Mitterlungen, is a most erudite contribution to history of geography and commerce. The author care- fully examines the notices on cinnamon and cassia to be found in the writings of the ancients and of the Arabs, and critically examines these by the light of modern research. The ancient Egyptians procured fsa their cinnamon from punt, which is identified with the Rego Cinnamonifera at the promontory of Garadafiri of the modern Somaliland. But neither cinnamon nor cassia was a product of this region, nor are they at the present time, which is amply proved and illustrated by a consideration of the geographical distribution of the Louracea. Arabian merchants intentionally shrouded in mystery their manner or place of obtaining cinnamon and, in consequence, the ancients entertained the most preposterous ideas on the subject. The “ Khisit” of the inscriptions of the temple of Doral Bahari is correctly translated cinnamon or cassia. The latter word and the gizi of Galen and the Keziah of the Hebrew are derived from it, but it is of itself a cor- ruption of Kei-shi, the Chinese name for cassia. From this fact, the author concludes that China supplied the ancient world with most, if not all, of its cinnamon, but did so through traders settled in parts of Arabia or the Somali coast, who maintained their monopoly until the discovery of cinnamon in the Island of Ceylon. Herodotus relates that cassia grew in Arabia, but that cinnamon was brought there by birds from India, the fabled birthplace of Bacchus. This writer states that cassia grew in a shallow lake, the borders of which were infested with winged animals resembling bats; that these were powerful creatures and uttered piercing cries; but that the Arabs made war against them for the purpose of obtaining the spice and, defending their eyes from the attack of the monsters, drove them from their strong- hold for a brief period and then, unmolested, collected the cassia. A. still more marvelous account was given by a Grecian historian of the manner in which cinnamon was obtained, which is as follows: ‘“‘ The Arabs them- selves were perfectly ignorant of the situation of the favored spots which produced this spice; some, however, asserted with much appearance of probability that it grew in the country where Bacchus was born, and they gave the following account of the plan resorted to for obtaining cinnamon: Some very large birds collected together a quantity of the shoots and small branches of [ 82] the cinnamon and. built (hep gemiy eth it on the lofty mountains inaccessible fer nd) eet oath paebiinis of: ie wail enmcie ee dntii | Nain Preplux of the’ Ervt ay ene touch a ae - —_——"= i oe 5 ee tan 'S ean eee J “e@ ote 5 wl - 7 = > =P Cn Ac A arena pail, reed Nien og 80 CEYLON showing Scale of Miles @,12 2 30 4p ] ot Mg : s p CRanus eran = A Ss we KALPITI aberane 4 i: vi p H we. Minnerye \ a 4 . ° ‘ \, Polo reve. ' * F 4Dambulla * l CHILAWP pa oye NEGAMBot ce Gamers et ae “ha NY De TEAS’! 2C 0 ‘aah : aPussellamea. e \, mr /} xy fj 5 dboday U \ im : PO Buia luca. Wana Badulla | ie \} 4 = gange 4 CoLomBas Kean! sm Dickoye> Kf ew " ‘ S sitestelira, A KE as KALUTARAW E—FAMBANTOTTA _80 Long E of Greenwich 81 the cinnamon and built their nests with it on the lofty mountains inaccessible to man; and the inhabitants of the country placed large pieces of carrion flesh near the haunts of the birds who bore it to their nests which, not being made strong enough to hold the additional load, gave way, falling to the valley below, where it was gathered up by the natives and exported to foreign lands.” It was exported into India in the time of the authors of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and even long before it was much used among masters of the ancient world. Celsius recommends that it should: be given “ perpa- rationem.” It is mentioned in the herb book of the Chi- nese Emperor Shen-nong, and was known in China 2,700 B. C. under the name of: ‘“‘ Kwei” and was intro- duced into Egypt about 1,600 or 1,500 B. C., and China maintained her monopoly until the discovery of cinna- mon on the Island of Ceylon. It would appear that cinnamon was not confined to Asia, much less to Ceylon, in former times. Ibn-Batuta is credited with having first mentioned the Island of Ceylon as a cinnamon region, for the Sayalan of Kazwini and Yakut is not Ceylon, as supposed by Colonel Yale and others, but Rami or Sumatra. The Romans were supplied by the Arabs, the cinnamon being carried up the Nile in ships, then across the desert on camels to the Red Sea, which they crossed to a port of Arabia, where India merchants were met and exchanges took place, the cinnamon being the most important article of commerce from India, and in this way the odors of the far-famed cinnamon spice came, by poetical liberty, to be associated with “ Araby the Blest ” by the system of transit by caravans overland through Arabia. The Romans communicated with India only once each year during the reign of Augustus, and at such times invested about £403,000 in the trade of cinnamon. They figured on about 100 per cent. profit. History tells us it was at one time sold in Rome at $25 per pound. Even in comparatively modern times the products of the more eastern parts of Asia were chiefly imported [ 83 ] into Kurope by way of Egypt. ‘The Venetians almost entirely controlled this lucrative branch of commerce, and through their hands these articles were supplied to the rest of Europe. But when the passage around the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by the Portu- guese, in 1498, Indian commerce was turned into a dif- ferent channel and the Portuguese soon supplanted the Venetians in the traffic of Indian commodities. Early in the sixteenth century they obtained permission from the powers of Ceylon to establish a factory on that island. Although the Europeans had obtained license from the ruling authorities to pursue this trade, the Arab merchants did not submit without a struggle to the intru- sion. ‘They vigorously opposed the landing of the strangers who were taking their trade away from them, but the Portuguese built the fort of Colombo and soon after made a treaty with the king of Kandy, by the terms of which the Portuguese agreed to assist the king of Kandy and his successors in all their wars and in return were to receive out of the Kandyan territory an annual supply of 124,000 pounds of cinnamon. ‘The Dutch viewed with a jealous eye the rich and thriving Portuguese, and soon after they established themselves in the East Indies, and became desirous of monopolizing the cinnamon trade, they tried to undermine the Portu- guese by showing favors to the king of Kandy, and in this way tried to have him drive the Portuguese from the island. ‘The Dutch were partly successful in their bold attempt, as the king of Kandy, in 1612, agreed to sell the Dutch East India Company all the cinnamon that he could collect in his kingdom. The Portuguese, however, would not quietly submit, but after a long con- testing of the matter it ended in 1645 in a treaty of peace with the Dutch, by which both nations were to share equally. During the time this treaty was in force both nations employed native cinnamon cutters to cut and prepare the aromatic bark, and all that was collected on either side was deposited in a central situation upon the river Dondegam, near Negombo. When the cinna- mon harvest was completed an equal division of the quantity obtained was made, each party paying half the [ 84 ] cost of harvesting. ‘This amicable arrangement was not, however, of very long continuance, and in 1652 a fresh war proved more disastrous to the Portuguese, who were finally expelled from the Island of Ceylon in 1658. ‘The Dutch now made strenuous efforts to ob- tain a monopoly of the cinnamon trade, and they also tried for the exclusive commerce of the Malabar coast. This was very expensive to the Dutch, as merchants of other countries, by paying a good price, were always able to obtain it from the natives notwithstanding the decrees of the princes of the country. All through the Portuguese and Dutch periods, cin- namon was the principal source of wealth. The Dutch first tried cultivating it in 1767, thereby occasioning much fear on the part of the native Sinhalese that the cultivation would ruin the cinnamon forest. Previous to this time, in 1506, large trees were found by the Por- tuguese growing wild and scattered through the interior of Ceylon. 'The Dutch, after many attempts to restrict the cultivation of it to the Island of Ceylon, passed a law making the removal of the seed from the island a crime punishable by death. The law also provided that persons should be compelled to care for the tree, even if it were on their property, and it further provided that any person discovered in cutting a shrub of cinnamon on the island should have his right hand cut off. ‘This law so retarded planting that up to 1808 or 1809 only 15,000 acres were cultivated. Exportation was restricted to 8,000 bales of 100 pounds each. In 1796, Ceylon was captured by the English. They put an end to these barbarous laws, but a monopoly was continued until 1832. Afterwards the cultivation of the tree was intro- duced by the Dutch into their own islands and the Malay Peninsula, an act which would have been much more creditable to the Dutch had they tried this means earlier, instead of warring with other countries. It is estimated that the world’s production of true cinnamon does not exceed 400,000,000 pounds, while an equal amount of cassia is collected chiefly in China and the East Indies. Cinnamon is not an article which enters into the daily food of the masses of the people, [ 85 ] and the consumption does not increase with a low price or decrease when the price is high. 'The present con- sumption does not equal one pound to each 500 inhabit- ants of the earth. Cinnamon and cassia blume are the barks of several species of genus cinnamomum (natural order lau- rocece) and the true cinnamon, with which cassia is often compounded, is produced by cinnamomum Zeylanicum, formerly called Laurus, which is a member of the laurel family (French, Cannele de Ceylon; German, Zimmt Ceylon, Zimmt Kaneel; Arabic name, Kinsman). The true cinnamon tree, if left in its natural states, varies in height and dimensions in different sections, growing to the height of twenty to forty feet with a straight trunk, and is from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter. It is the hardiest of any of the spice trees, and in its natural climate grows on almost any soil and at almost any elevation, with an average temper- ature of 85 degrees and an inch of rainfall for every degree. It may be grown by cultivation in any place where it is found growing wild. When sheltered from the wind and the direct rays of the hot sun, it will grow from 1,500 to 8,000 feet above the sea level. It is found in those angles of the mountains which face the monsoons. Where it is cultivated, it is cut back when six years old to about fifteen feet and every two years thereafter, and then has the general appearance of an orange tree. It is an evergreen with a beautiful scarlet foliage which changes to a dark glossy green. The leaf and leaf-stalk are globous and are nearly opposite, oblong, ovate, obtuse, the largest bemg from eleven to twelve centimeters in length and from five to seven centimeters in width. ‘The leaf is coriaceous and shining bright green above and glaucous beneath. Besides the middle vein there are also two other veins on each side starting from the stalk, rounded to the shape of the edge of the leaf nearly to its extremity. The leaves on drying acquire a reddish brown color due to the oxidation of the essential oil which they contain. Small, dingy, white or greenish blossoms disposed in [ 86 ] terminal panicles appear in January or February, their strong and unpleasant odor resembling a mixture of lilac and rose. In color they resemble mignonette. By May they develop into small, purplish, brown-colored berries enclosed at the base by a calyx and shaped like an acorn. ‘The berry contains a soft brown pulp and has but one seed, which ripens in August and is gathered by the natives for the fragrant oil it contains. The entire tree contains an aromatic flavor of cinna- mon and no part of it is lost, as the entire tree is used for some purpose, every part of it having a distinct flavor. It is impossible to discover the cause or causes by means of which different qualities are produced from the same branch, since the shoots and the same tree are found to yield cinnamon of different qualities. The quality of a cinnamon tree is often determined by the size of the leaves, as well as by tasting the inner bark; the larger the leaf the better bark the tree will afford. The quality of the bark varies very much with local conditions, some being so inferior as to be harvested only for the purpose of adulterations. Two of these inferior varieties are the korahedi and the velli, the latter growing more quickly than any other cinnamon known, being often at two years’ growth four to five inches in girth and eight to ten feet high. It has a very coarse bark and takes its name from sand velli because it grits under the teeth. The bark is often so hard that it will turn the edge of a peeling knife. There are several varieties of cinnamon. Next in order after Ceylon are the fol- lowing: 1. Penne or Rosse Kuroondu (which signifies honey or sweet cinnamon). Naya Kuroondu (or snake cinnamon). Kapooru Kuroondu (or camphor). Kabatte Kuroondu (or astringent cinnamon). Sevel Kuroondu (or mucilaginous cinnamon). Dowool Kuroondu (flat or drum cinnamon). . Nika Kuroondu (or wild cinnamon, whose leaf resembles that of nicaso or vitx negundo). 8. Mal Kuroondu (or bloom or flower cinnamon). 9. Tompat K. (or trefoil cinnamon). [ 87 ] ce oe Only the first four are strictly varieties of the Laurus Cinnamomum, and as the names given are only known by the planters of cimnamon or by the native Sinhalese, I will not refer to them again except by the names known to commerce. The true cinnamon is a native of the Island of Ceylon and it adds sweetness to the breezes which “ blow softly o’er Ceylon’s Isle,” and nowhere else has it been found growing so well or so spontaneously. ‘The large trees scat- tered through the older forests of the interior are every year gorgeous in bloom of every shade of pink from a faint rose to bloodred. The Ceylon variety is the best in the world, and the product in 1904 was 9,216 hundreds, valued at $278,430. It grows up six or seven feet, like willows, and the twigs are cut down for exportation; the smaller the twigs the finer the quality. The farm plantation is called a “ Cinnamon Garden.” In Ceylon these gardens are the most famous in the world, the owners living like princes. Some of the carved wood in these homes are literally worth their weight in gold. There are certain trees and species that are taken in charge by the royal surgeons. Such have the official stamp indicating what their medical value is. This cinnamon commonly sells at $15 to $25 per pound and sometimes as high as $100. While the ordinary China cassia, handled by our grocers, sells at wholesale at six or seven cents a pound. ‘The medicinal cassia, however, has about the value for cooking purposes that the ordinary Saigon cassia has. Many cinnamon gar- dens are being rooted up and planted to tea, however, as tea culture is more profitable. A sandy loam soil mixed with humus matter is favorable for the culture of cinnamon, and old, worn, coffee estates are often used in Ceylon for cinnamon plantations. The cinnamon crop has few enemies. Cattle, goats, and squirrels eat the growing shoots while tender. 'The principal insect enemy is a minute beetle that breeds in the leaves and sometimes does injury by retarding the growth and rendering the wood unpeelable, as well as ubhealthy. A red worm, about two inches long, eats its way up the center of some old and unhealthy sticks [ ss ] COLOMBO, CEYLON A PLANTATION IN CEYLON growing on partially decayed roots, but the injury from the insect is scarcely worth considering. White ants eat dead roots but seldom injure living wood, and they are to some extent enemies of all other insects which prey upon cinnamon trees. They build their nests around live branches, but this does not interfere with their growth. Crows and wood pigeons devour the berries with great eagerness, but in the process of digestion the productive qualities of the seed are not injured and by this means the seed is scattered over a large extent of country. Plants may be raised from the seed or by “laying.” The culture of the best kind, which is the true C. Zeylanicum, a cultivated Curanda or honey cin- namon (called penne rasse Kuroondu by the Sinhalese). is from the Kadirona, Ekla and Muradana gardens, between Colombo and Negunbo, which occupy a tract of country upwards of ten miles in length and in a winding circuit; as well as from the Maratuwa and Beruwala gardens, and those of Galle and Matara. There is also a Cingalese bark found in the archi- pelago, which is very pungent and much resembles the true bark from Ceylon. It brings a fair price on the market, and is more aromatic than that of Ceylon. There are several kinds of it, some of it bringing an ex- orbitant price, and it is cultivated solely for royal use. The outer bark is never removed from it and for that reason it has the dark Java color. It, like the Saigon, is exported in 500-pound bundles. No system was first regarded in planting cinnamon groves in Ceylon. This neglect greatly hindered culti- vation. The usual way of establishing a garden is first to cut down all the brush and small trees on new ground, leaving the tall trees at intervals of from fifty to sixty feet, as a protection from the wind and from the strong hot rays of the sun. The fallen brush is next burned and the plat cleared is lined out. The soil is turned up for hills in squares of about one to four feet at intervals of from six to ten feet, according to the richness of the soil. The longer intervals being provided with the richer soil. The ash from the burned brush mixed with the broken ground and vegetable matter, and from four to [ 89 ] five of the berries are sown in each hill. Branches of trees are placed over the earth where the seed is planted to protect them from the sun and to keep the earth from parching. Care should be taken in selecting the seed, as that from trees ten years old and up is best. Seed from old trees with coarse wood produces coarse and unpeelable bark, which helps to increase the chips. If the tree is to be raised from shoots, the youngest, or those not containing more than three leaves, must be selected, for if older they will surely die. The method of raising plants from layers is very good, because the numerous side branches which issue from the bottom of the trunk also furnish an abundant supply, well adapted for the purpose intended. The transplanting of the divisions of old roots or stumps is also much approved, as they yield shoots of useful size twelve months after planting. Great care must be taken in planting or removing the roots or the divisions of the parent stump, for should any of the rootlets become bruised, even to the tenth part of an inch in diameter, the injured part will cer- tainly perish. Care must also be taken when removing the roots or stumps to keep as much earth on them as possible, or as can be carried with them. ‘The dirt originally taken from the holes should not be returned, but there should be used, instead, that from the sur- face which has been burned and contains ashes mixed with vegetable manure. When old cinnamon trees are cut down and burned on their stumps, the roots will later produce a superior quality of cinnamon. Plant- ing of seed is least advantageous as it requires greater attention than other modes, and the trees are longer reaching perfection. As they are planted four to five seeds in a hill, and as they are quite sure to germinate, the plants grow in clusters. Should no rain fall after planting on either the roots or stumps, they must be kept watered every morning and evening until the sprouts shoot out fresh buds. This will be in about two weeks from the planting and is an indication that they have taken root. Ina month the shoots will be from three to four inches high. When seed is sown and dry weather [ 90 ] a. =i ° 8 cs aS x rs oO E HARBOR 4L GAI NEGOMBO CANAL follows, the seedlings will perish. It will be necessary, therefore, to plant the ground anew. It is wise, there- fore, to raise plants in a nursery to supply the vacancies in the hills. For a nursery, a plat of rich soil is selected, free from stone and cleared from brushwood, except the tall trees. which are left for shade. ‘The ground is dug over and formed into beds from three to four feet wide and the seed is sown nine to twelve inches apart and shaded at eight to twelve inches above ground, by a pendall of leaves. The plants are kept watered on alternate days until they have one pair of leaves, but the shade should not be removed until the plants are six to eight inches high and are able to bear the sun. The seed will germi- nate in from two to three weeks. The planting takes place in autumn when the seed is gathered fully ripe. The seeds are heaped up in shady places, as the sun would crack and spoil them; the outer red coating will rot, turn black, and come off easily; the seed is then washed and dried in the air, but not in the sun; that which will float on water is rejected. The plants are taken from the nursery in October and November, and under favorable situations they will grow from five to six feet high in from six to seven years. A healthy bush will then afford two or three shoots ready for peeling, but should unfavor- able results occur they will not yield for from eight to twelve years. After the plants are fully established in the field, very little cultivation is required, except to keep them free from the weeds. In a good soil from four to seven shoots may be cut every two years. Some- times thriving plants may be cut first in four years and sometimes even in two years. _ The quality of the bark depends upon its position on the branch; that from the middle is the best, that from the top second, and that from the base, which is the thicker part of the branch, the third grade. Shoots exposed during growth to the direct rays of the sun have their bark more acrid and spicy than the bark of those which grow in the shade. A marshy soil rarely produces good cinnamon, its texture being cross-grained and spongy, with little aroma. The quality is deter- [91 ] mined by the thinness of the bark — the thinner and more pliable the finer. The finest quality of bark is smooth and somewhat shiny and of a light yellow color. The shoot bends before it breaks, and when the fracture occurs it is generally in the form of a splinter which has an agreeable, warm, aromatic taste with a slight degree of sweetness. Two crops are gathered each year — the first from April to August and the second from November to January. ‘These particular seasons are selected for har- vesting on account of their coming just after the heavy rains, Just as the young, red leaf assumes the normal dark green. The sap then is more active and the bark is more easily detached. If there is not sufficient rain the garden may have to be cut over several times. In harvesting, the shoots are not all cut at one time, but by degrees as they arrive at the required maturity. Those sticks which promise to peel at the next cutting are left. In pruning, with plenty of help, every stick older than two years is cut, whether it will peel or not. A. grayish, corky appearance is an indication of the fitness of the shoots for cutting. A certain amount is marked off for each day’s cutting, and it is an offense to go outside of that limit, but within the limit every one is allowed to go’ where he pleases. When fifteen or twenty persons are allowed to scramble as they please, the trees are agitated as by a whirlwind passing over them and in less than forty minutes the best sticks are cut and appropriated. Then systematic work begins. Every stick is then tested before cutting, and, if the wood is in a fair condition for peeling, it will take about two hours to finish a plat of 484 square feet. There are four such plats to an acre. They yield from twenty-eight to forty-eight pounds each. When called off, no one is allowed to cut another stick. (See illus- tration.) As long as the seed is on the bushes, which is nearly till the end of the year, the sticks carrying them do not peel, owing possibly to the growth being checked and with it the free flow of sap in the effort to mature the seed. If, therefore, this seed is allowed to remain [ 92 ] CUTTING CINNAMON great loss results, as by the time the seed-bearing bushes are peelable they will have grown so much as to yield coarse bark, fit only to quill coarse cinnamon, or not fit to be quilled at all. ‘To avoid this loss the seed is stripped from the limb, when it will peel in its proper time. ¢ - ¢ 5:16 Fixed: @ilor Fat. oa) 28) 34.37.) Nitrogen, i.) 2 ge) 5) 83 [ 151 ] CHAPTER XIII MACE With your colors shining bright, You stopped the pigeons in their flight; From Dutchmen’s fields they planted seed, Which brought forth wealth in time of need. the same tree, and although they have similar prop- erties, they are yet so different in growth and flavor as to justify giving to them separate chapters. The fleshy scarlet mantle or arillus which envelopes the nutmeg (illustration under nutmeg), or the coat between the outside pericarp and the seed of the nutmeg, is called mace (Latin, Macis; French, Macis; German, Maker) . It is not a continuous coat, but a network which varies in amount in different localities, as well as on the several species of nuts, being from 0.25 per cent. in the Bandas to 10 per cent. in Jamaica. It would, therefore, require from ten to 400 pounds of nutmegs to produce one pound of mace. Planchon says of this laciniate envelope that it is noth- ing more than an expansion of the exostome and, there- fore, an arillode or false aril. 3 Mace is harvested at the same time as the nutmegs and sometimes it is removed from the nutmeg by scrap- ing with a knife, but removing it by hand is considered the better way. This is done by commencing at the base of the nut, for the reason that there the interlacing or lining becomes more expanded and at the same time flattened. In this condition it is placed on mats or trays to dry in the sunshine. The modern drier, however, is now largely used and is preferable, even when the weather is clear for a sufficient time to cure the mace, as sunshine seems to absorb some of its substantial qualities. The modern drier also prevents it from dry- ing too rapidly. Mace, in drying, is first crimson, then [ 152 ] se nutmegs and mace are the fruit of blood red, but in process of drying it loses this tinge, and after a few months, when properly cured, it is of a yel- lowish or golden-brown color, preferred by the dealers. It is then firmly packed in bags (called by the Germans in the Straits Settlements, sok kols). The Banda mace is usually packed in one-half piculs of sixty-five pounds and in barrels or casks containing about 280 pounds each, the pressure being about equal to the weight of the mace. When driers are not used and the weather is wet, mace is dried by being smoked, care being taken not to blacken it. Sometimes the base of the mace is cut off and it is dried in double layers — a process which many think has a tendency to keep worms from working into it, but this is not true, as it, instead, furnishes a place in which they can hide. True mace is the product of the true nutmeg, which is round and covered with single and double blades of flat and somewhat irregular smooth slits. These are slightly flexible or brittle membrane of a golden-yellow color, and, in the odor and taste, analogous to the odor and taste of the nutmeg. ‘They are rich in fixed and essential oils and in aroma. While each is a part of the same fruit, the nutmeg and mace are entirely differ- ent in outward appearance and are separated for com- mercial purposes, as well as for their separate uses. The Penang mace is most esteemed because it is flaxy and spreads. Penang exported 1,143 piculs, valued at $105,032, in 1904. The Dutch or Batavian is more fleshy and cheaper. ‘The Singapore is inferior to both the Penang and the Dutch, while the wild or false mace from the long nutmegs is dark red and has a coarse, strong flavor, which is very different from that of the true mace. *Myristica Malabarica, known under the name of Bombay mace, used to adulterate the true powdered mace, is much larger and more cylindrical than the arillus of the true nutmeg and has several flaps united at the apex, forming a conical structure. The ana- tomical structure is also different, as may be seen by * Tamk Bedd, G. L., Sylv. t269; Rheede, Hort., M21, iv, t5. [ 153 ] the aid of a microscope. When moistened with hydro- chloric acid, the Bombay mace presents the marked peculiarity of assuming a greenish color. Bombay mace may be detected by boiling the suspected samples with alcohol and filtering through a white filter; if the mace is pure the filter is stained a faint yellow, but if Bombay mace is present the filter, especially the edge, is colored red. A rather more delicate test is to add “ Goulard’s’’* extract to the alcoholic filtrate; with pure mace only a white turbidity is occasioned, but when Bombay mace is present a red turbidity is obtained. The reaction given by tumeric is similar, but it may be distinguished from that of Bombay mace in the following manner: A strip of filter paper is saturated with the alcoholic solution, the excess of fluid removed, and the strips drawn through a cold, saturated solution of boric acid. When Bombay mace is present the paper remains un- changed, but in the presence of tumeric it turns orange brown. If a drop of potassium-hydrate solution is now placed on the strip of paper, it causes a blue ring if tumeric be present, and a red ring if the adulterant is Bombay mace. The myristica argentea produces a dirty-brown col- ored mace, and the arillus generally consists of four broad stripes which are united above and below. In selecting mace care should be taken to select the orange- colored with a transparent-like appearance. When it has a tendency to crumble to dust it is considered of poor quality. Dull-looking parcels should be avoided, as such is never genuine mace, but is obtained from con- crete virtue or expressed oil of bruised or broken nut- megs. Although pure mace has a flavor quite similar to that of the nutmeg, it has a peculiarity of its own which most people prefer. It is extensively used for medicinal pur- poses. Ground mace, which is powdered by stamps or by pounding, the same as nutmegs or mustard, loses its flavor very rapidly and when distilled yields a reddish, * Pharmacographia Indica. [ 154 ] buttery oil, which can be obtained by process of distil- lation. This oil is strong and volatile and contains an oxygenated body, the properties of which have not been determined. This buttery oil, mixed with other sub- stances, is known as nutmeg balsam. (See nutmegs.) The uniform, small-celled, angular parenchyma of mace contains numerous brown cells of large size and the inner parts contain thin, brown vascular bundles. The cells of the epidermis on either side are colorless, containing thick walls, longitudinally extended, and covered with a peculiar cuticle of broad, flat, ribbon-like cells as a continuous film which cannot be removed. The parenchyma also contains many small granules to which a red color is imparted by means of a solution of meracious nitrate and an orange hue by use of iodine. This result shows that they consist of albuminous matter without starch. The chemical characteristics are so marked and the structure is so closely carried out that the adulteration of ground mace is very easily detected. All the details of structure in the ground powder of mace are readily made out by chloral-hydrate prepara- tion with the polarized light, as the brown vascular bundles, the ribbon-like and epidermal cells are all polar- izing substances, while the large mass of granular par- enchymous cells are not. The ribbon-like cells are par- ticularly interesting in the varied forms they assume. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MACE The nature of the principal constituent of mace can be found from the following experiments: Seventeen grammes of finely pulverized mace were entirely exhausted by boiling ether and the solvent left to spontaneous evaporations. ‘The residue, amounting to 5.57 grammes after dessications at 100 degrees C., was reduced in weight to 4.17, the loss 1.40 grammes being the essential oil, which was 8.2 per cent. The resi- due, amounting to 24.5 per cent., was thick, aromatic balsam in which we can find no trace or presence of fat, but, instead, it consisted of resin and semi-resinified aromatic oil. Alcohol extracts from this 1.4 per cent. [ 155 ] of uncrystallizable sugar, which may be reduced by cupric oxide. The drug after this treatment with alco- hol and ether yields scarcely anything to cold water, but boiling water extracts 1.8 per cent. of mucilage, which | takes a blue color if treated with iodine, or a reddish- violet if previously dried. This test shows that it has qualities quite different from those of nutmegs. This substance is not soluble in an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide; it seems rather to be an intermediary body between gum and starch, and may be called amylo- dextrin.* It is distinguished from the true starch by being stained reddish brown instead of blue by an aque- ous solution of iodine; the grains of amylodextrin* do not appear to contain even a nucleus of starch. As seen under the microscope, they have usually somewhat the form of a rod and are often curved or coiled; less often they are roundish or disc-shaped; they do not usually exhibit any evident stratification. Chemical composition: Water wich e on eae OO T, Undetermined, . . . 41.17 PASE One o Piac ten Tae rite ied Crude: Fiber, Co atin -. 8.93 Wolatile: Oiler sc.) ie et: a OA Albumimoids,... 02). 2> 4e5e Resnnrsh hak eer 1st SPO Nitrogens. 27%.) 2S oe ats The city of Macassar, Celebes, exported during the first nine months of the year 1905, $4,520.61 worth of mace; and Padang, Sumatra, exported $1,617.17 during the same time. The city of Singapore exported $22,- 710.12 worth during the year 1904. * Amyloceous, starchy. [ 156 ] MUSTARD 1 Flowering stem with leaves 3 Pod 2 Flower 4 Yellow seed 5 Black seed CHAPTER XIV MUSTARD You are an appetizer prime, And a friend in time of pain. What did they do without you, pray, Before Old Lady Clements’ time? RENCH, Moutarde; German, Senf ; Portuguese, Mustarda; Spanish, Maszaza. The mustard of commerce is the seed, whole or powdered, of the several species of the genus brassica (or sinapis) of the mustard family. They are (cru- ciferous) plants which grow wild, or cinnamon charlock, and are cultivated under various conditions. Mustard dates back through a number of centuries, and the mustard tree, spoken of in Luke XITI, 19, which attains a height of ten or even fifteen feet in Palestine, was probably the true mustard, brassica (sinapis) nigra, according to Ragle and others. The tree meant is Salvadora Persica, a small tree bearing minute berries with pungent seeds which bear the name in Arabic of mustard. Hippocrates used it in medicine under the name of vanuit. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, the Dutch were employed to throw out the earth from the eighty-foot dyke to drain the farms of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire, which were covered with water and had been the habitation of wild fowls. This dirt was found to contain small brown seeds which, on being exposed to the sun and air, sprouted and grew into plants, producing a yellow blossom which proved to be mustard. The two common varieties are the black or brown mustard, known as (brassica sinapis nigra), and the white seed, as it is called, although of a yellow color (brassica sinapis alba), usually found in whole mixed spices. The Indian wild brown mustard seed (rai or [ 157 ] charlock juncea Sarepta brassica), taking the name Sarepta from the city of that name in Russia, in the government of Saratov, is sometimes offered as the black mustard. Sinapis glauca and sinapis ramosa yield a white seed found in South Russia and in the steppes northeast of the Caspian Sea. Mustard is known by every farmer and is an annual herb (see illustration), from three to six feet high, with lyrate leaves, yellowish flower, and slender pods containing round seed; it may be grown almost anywhere. As only a few kinds of mustard seed are known to commerce, we will confine our history principally to the black seed, which is yellow within (brassica nigra) , and which furnishes the most aroma. The seeds are very small and do not weigh more than one-fiftieth of a grain, while the seed of brassica alba, or the white seed, as it is called, is three times as.large as the black. Mustard seed is found in almost all of Europe, except the most northern part, in Northern Africa, Asia Minor, the United States, Mesapotamia, the West Indies, South Siberia, and China. It is naturalized in North and South America, and is cultivated to a great extent in Bohemia, Holland, and Italy, and in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, England. It is generally put up for market in bags of 200 pounds each. Much of the black seed (Fig. 5) comes from California, and is brought to the Eastern market by railroads; much comes also from Kentucky. Each of these States produce large crops, and the New York Spice Mills use large quanti- ties of it on account of its being cheaper than the imported. It does not contain as much flour as the yel- low seed, but it is sweeter. ‘The best dark seed comes from Italy and is exported from the city of Trieste, Austria, and is called Trieste mustard. (See illustra- tion.) It is often sent by the Mediterranean Sea to London, and from there is transferred to New York vessels, although some comes direct from Bombay and Sicily. The yellow or large, plump, straw-colored, rough, hairy seed (Fig. 5) is much less remunerative than the black, smooth seed; is white inside, and, though a native [ 158 ] TRIESTE, AUSTRIA of Asia, is found in Russia and Africa. ‘The best of it comes from England, and is often called English mus- tard. The Dutch seed is considered next grade in quality to the English. In China and some parts of Europe a species is cultivated for greens for the table, which are prepared in the same way as spinach. The great aim of the grower is to produce reddish- brown seed, without any intermixture of gray. The gray color of the seed is attributed to the influence of the rains during the ripening. The presence of this color greatly lowers the value of the seed. The crop requires very little tillage. The seed is sown broadcast, in the month of April, at the rate of one bushel to an acre. ‘The harvesting will take place in June and July. The land is sufficiently seeded to pro- duce two crops, which are sometimes gathered in one year. A yield of forty bushels to an acre is not uncommon. ‘The seed weighs sixty pounds to the bushel. Mustard was first introduced as a table condiment in the year 1720 by an old lady named Clements, residing in Durham. It is from this fact that the well-known Durham mustard takes its name. She prepared it in a crude form by grinding the seed in a small hand mill. The product was nothing more than the crushed seed. This was passed through mesh sieves to separate the bran from the husk. The secret of this process she kept for many years. Mustard was used as a medicine by the ancients and is spoken of in history by Theophrastus and Galen and others. Its use as a condiment is spoken of by Shakes- peare in “ Taming of the Shrew,” Act IV, Scene ITT. The mustard which was made in the time of King George, who gave it his approval, was made from the wild cuarlock S. arvensis and was prepared by Lady Clements. But as manufacturing gradually developed, in order to cater to public taste, the seed meal has been changed to the genuine mustard of to-day, which is the farina or flour of the black or white mustard seed, made from [ 159 ] the interior of the seed, which is separated from the outer coat or shell. Mustard seed contains so much oil that it cannot be ground on common burr stones. It is prepared for market by first passing it through a winnowing machine to remove the dust and any other foreign material; it is next crushed by passing it between rollers; then it is placed in silk bags made for that purpose, and the vola- tile oil is extracted by hydraulic pressure. After the cake is dried it is put into pots and is stamped or pounded by a system of battery pounding, or by means of roller mills, in which the pounders vary in number from two to four, eight, twelve, or sixteen. The pound- ing or stamping continues until the cake is reduced to the consistency of soft middlings, or to the required powder. It is next scooped out into a trough and more cake is put into the pots. ‘The stamping continues until all the cake is used up. Then it is scooped for bolting on sieves made of silk cloth of fine or coarse mesh, as required, which are set in frames and given a shaking motion by an upright shaft, the meal falling into a receptacle below. ‘The quality of powdered mustard varies much, according to the quality of the mustard seed. Prime seed yields 50 to 60 per cent. of flour, and poor seed will run as low as 28 per cent. It does not pay to prepare poor seed, as the time lost in its prepara- tion would not make up for the cheapness of it. The operation of properly reducing mustard seed requires expert handling, and it can easily be ruined by incompetent operators. More than 50 or 60 per cent. of meal might be taken out at the first sifting, but to do so the bran would have to be chopped up so fine that some would pass through the sieve and spoil the appear- ance of the flour. The flour which is taken out at the first sifting is called superfine. If no more could be obtained from the seed than the superfine flour, it is very clear that the mustard flour would cost nearly or quite twice as much as the cake, with all the labor added. But to save this extra cost the miller often adds to the remaining bran or tailings an equal quantity of good wheat flour, and also 1 per cent. of good Cayenne pep- [ 160 ] per, and sufficient color (tumeric) to give the same tinge as that of pure mustard. Pound this as before and by the same process, the flour remaining is separated from the bran and united with the wheat flour. In passing through the sieve, 75 per cent. of the compound may be extracted. This product, which is better than most of the adulterated, is called fine. Nearly all of the wheat flour will pass through the sieves, and about 25 per cent. of the mustard and this 25 per cent. of bran is treated as before. As the wheat flour is increased, the hulls or bran will be less apt to affect the appearance of the mustard. This is called seconds. It is admitted that much of the good property of the mustard is in the bran, and, after all, it is only neces- sary to extract it to satisfy a popular prejudice as to what a fine, yellow color pure mustard ought to have. This notion is often wrong, just as coloring butter to please the eyes is wrong. These mixtures may all be mixed and powdered together, if rightly colored, and again bolted to make various grades, or, with experience in the use of a mill and an acquaintance with the nature of the particular kind of seed or the quality of the pressed cake, it may be powdered from the start, if sufficient adulteration is added to the cake. Thus a grade com- bining all the qualities may be made at one operation. This process reduces the labor to a minimum. After the sifting is completed there will remain a residue in the sieves, which is called dressing. This is used in wet mustard or French mustard, as it is known to the con- sumer. It is sometimes used by pickle manufacturers. WET MUSTARD OR FRENCH MUSTARD Consists of a compound of crushed mustard seed and vinegar, the seed having been passed between rollers and then washed into a cask or vat. With it there is often mixed garlic and such spice or flavoring material as the fancy or experience of the manufacturer will determine. This compound is ground two or three times through a stone mill or through a line of several mills, the material being fed from one to the other until it is received in a final reservoir, from which it is put [ 161 ] up in bottles. It is of a consistency of paste, which contains all the mustard, the oil, the flour, and the bran. It may be compounded with an indefinite variety of material, and the refuse bran of dry mustard may also be added. Its use is steadily increasing, and a very satis- factory article may be made at home by thoroughly pounding the seed and mixing it with good vinegar. In this way the maker can be sure that his compound has the virtue of purity and also.of cheapness. As the fixed oil has no pungency or mustard taste, it adds nothing to the flavor of the flour, but, instead, injures its keeping qualities, and, if left in, makes the seed very difficult to be pulverized. It is used as a salad and there is a ready market for it, as there is a great demand for it by the Jewish people. Since hydraulic presses are expensive, costing from $2,000 to $4,000 each, but a small number of the spice millers press their own mustard seed. They either buy the mustard cake, which has been prepared by special mustard mills, or buy the pure or adulterated flour, already prepared for the market. Some spice millers are suspicious of the cake, fearing it may be adulterated or be made up of partially poor seed, or of the refuse of previous workings, and they have good reasons for their fears, as such adulteration might occur, but as the pure article is to be Judged by the flavor and pungency it may possess, it is as easy to test the cake as the seed. Mustard is not only very popular as a condiment but is a medicinal rubefacient, as it has many stimulating properties. The use of mustard plasters every house- hold is familiar with; mustard also promotes digestion, and it is a splendid emetic in case of poisoning. A good story is told of a quack doctor who advertised electric belts for sale. He had received many testi- monials from those who had bought them, his patrons speaking very highly of the benefit they had received from their use, but as the belts became worn and were ripped open it was found that the electricity they con- tained was made up of mustard flour. In the ground mustard or mustard meal, as has been [ 162 ] explained, we have only the interior of the seed, with the exception of the few small portions of the husk, which may have escaped in the operation of bolting. The presence of these fragments enables us to recog- nize the source from which the flour is derived, and also to detect the use of mustard hulls as an adulterant of other food materials. The farina or black and white mustard differs but little in appearance. ‘The brown, however, is slightly darker. ‘The outer colorous epidermis consists of angu- lar plates, or hexagonal tabular cells, with a center of different brilliancy. It swells up and becomes slimy in water, and, therefore, must be observed in glycerine. At the best it requires some manipulation to see it well, and it is far less prominent in the black seed. The next coat, denominated the subepidermal, is not prominent and can only be seen at all easily in the white seed. The third layer is an important one, and in it is found the coloring matter of the brown seed. Its absence is the cause of the lack of color in the white variety. By this layer one is able to tell whether the flour is a mixture of both the black and white seed or if it is derived from one only. Fragments of this layer are common in powdered mustard. It is distinguished by the thick or colorless brown cell walls and their irregular dotted appearance. Between the third and second layers are numerous cells containing some color in the brown seed, but of little importance. Within these comes the important layer, denominated the inner tunic or plasma layer. It separates readily from the other parts of the husk and is often found by itself in the powdered mustard. As its contents are broken up by water or chloral-hydrate, it is necessary to use glycerine or oil in mounting. The cells and their contents of this layer are large and much alike in both the black and white seed. The interior of the mustard seed is made up of small, soft parenchyma cells, containing the oil and the other con- stituents of the mustard, but without any trace of starch —a fact which makes adulterations easily detected. [ 163 ] The peculiar pungency and odor of the black seed are due to an essential or fixed oil, myronic acid, which is developed by the action of cold water (hot water will not answer) on two peculiar chemical substances which it contains, which form a compound, termed by the dis- coverers myronate of potash, but since called synanthrin, an acid with formula CioH19NS2O10. This acid is con- verted into the volatile oil of mustard or sulphocyanide of allyl C4HsNS, or &x,$S. Through the agency of the myrosin, another constituent of brown seed, when the two are brought in contact through the medium of water, we have vegetable albumen, a bitter principle, a little gum and sugar, and a peculiar green substance, cellulose, and mineral water, called sulphocyanide of sinapine.* The aqueous extract of yellow mustard seed yields with a solution of ferric chloride a deep, blood- red coloration, which is scarcely perceptible with similar extract of black mustard. The aqueous extract of white mustard acquires a powerful odor of sulphurated hydro- gen in a few hours, while that of the black seed smells only of the pungent mustard oil. White mustard seed contains from 25 per cent. to 85 per cent. of an inodorous fixed oil with a little ten- dency to become rancid and of little pungency, which it will not give up in water. In place of myronic acid converted into volatile oil of mustard, it contains a non- volatile, bitter and acrid salt termed sulphocyanide of sinapine (C17H24N2SQOs or C16H23NOsCN HS), myro- sin gum cellulose and mineral matter. Now, as it is on the volatile oil and the acrid and somewhat bitter salt that the pungency and acridity of mustard depend, we can see a strong reason why in the mustard of commerce the farina of the two species, black and white seed, should be blended together, in the proportion of two parts of white to one of black. The black seed does contain some of the acrid principle as well as the volatile oil, as has been verified by the action of nitric acid, caus- tic potash, and ferric chloride, on the alcoholic extract. It is, therefore, the most valuable of the two seeds on * Sinapaline sincaline. [ 164 ] account of the little volatile oil in the yellow seed. The acrid principle of white mustard appears to possess but little stability, although it has been said éo bear a tem- perature of 130 degrees C. We find that it is readily affected by heat and that it is not safe to evaporate the alcoholic solution containing it at a higher temper- ature than about 30 degrees C., for, if subjected to a much higher temperature, it quickly loses its acridity and acquires a bitter, caramel-like taste. The oil extracted by ether from the brown seed is of a bright and beautiful emerald-green color, owing to the peculiar green principle described as one of its constitu- ents. So deep and remarkable is the color of the oil that it would be easy by means of a graduated scale of tints to determine with very tolerable certainty the percentage of brown mustard contained in any sample of mixed mustard. Specific gravity, 1.017; boils at 148 degrees. Myronate of potash decomposes under the influence of the nitrogenous matter contained in brown mustard into volatile oil, glucose, and acid sulphate of potash. The quantity of each of these products of decomposi- tion gives, therefore, by simple calculation, the quantity of myronic acid; one hundred parts of this acid yield 23.85 parts of volatile oil. Place forty to fifty grammes of mustard farina in a flask of about one-half liter capacity; 250 cubic centi- meters of tepid water should be poured over it, then close the flask with a cork and shake well. After twen- ty-four hours’ standing connect the flask with a Liebig’s condenser and heat to boiling. Pour thirty cubic centi- meters strong ammonia into the receiver, the end of the condenser being dipped below the surface of the liquid. Water and the volatile oil will pass over, the oil at first floating in the shape of oily drops on the surface of the liquid, which soon sinks to the bottom, especially when the liquid is gently agitated. When no more oil globules pass over, the distillation has finished. The receiver should be closed with a cork and allowed to stand twenty-four hours; at the end of this time all the oil will be dissolved and is now contained in the liquid in [ 165 ] the form of thiosinamine (C4HsNz). This solution is evaporated on the water bath in a weighed platinum basin, the residue dried and weighed, and the quantity of thiosinamine obtained, minus one molecule of am- monia, represents the amount of volatile oil. To esti- mate the amount of myrosin or albumen and sulpho- cyanide of sinapine, the amount of nitrogen and sul- phur in the mustard should first be obtained, the former by combustion with soda lime in the well-known manner, and the latter by deflagration of the mustard and oxida- tion of its sulphur in a mixture of nitrate of soda and carbonate of potash. First, dissolve the mass in water or diluted acid, and the sulphuric acid contained in the solution is estimated by means of chloride of barium, and, from this data the amount of the myrosin and of the sulphocyanide of sinapine, the acrid principle is caleu- lated. As much sulphur and nitrogen are first deducted from the totals of these substances obtained as is con- tained in the quantity of myronic acid previously deter- mined. Next, the whole remaining sulphur, and as much of the nitrogen as is required, are estimated in the acrid principle, and, lastly, the surplus nitrogen is calculated into myrosin, which has the same formula as vegetable albumen. But now, having the amount of the acrid principle and of the myrosin, a further calculation has to be made, since myrosin contains about 1 per cent. of sulphur, and this can be deducted from the total acrid principle, a corresponding quantity of nitrogen being in turn calculated into myrosin. Chemical composition of white mustard: Moisture, a eawee Qe Albuminoids3)/) 0.0/6) 1.128330 with variations Myrosin Albumin, . . 5.24 BS tier ates Meiers GAC A Ay Soluble Matter, . . . 27.38 Celhulosey Ge Lak ROese Volatile Onli R008 Sulohary bins ues OO G Asia licen tel eas i ae Nitrogen ii.) 4)05) jie yok ae Solubles iss ceed Ono [ 166 ] Chemical composition of brown mustard seed: MOIStURR EU ei Vio sy ASeOe SoM ey as heh eye 8 Ase eee one Sey eh s)he!) fal RDN A STA PMA I Mato noes Ge tens Wy forty UR Pellulasey i Seo QLOn Pixed Oe vena ited SOL OO Albuminoids, - J 2550 VolatalevOily yi Eee i OCaTS. Myrosin and ye Aa ee a Potassium Myronate, . 1.692 Soluble Matter, . . . 24.22 BOlUBLe schon hao eae Wt INIEOMEM Neh edule. |!) ste eb |) AOS with some variations Mustard is, no doubt, adulterated more than any other of the condiments, unless it be black pepper. ‘Tumeric is the great agent used to bring out the desired color in the adulteration, and Cayenne pepper is used to give it a tonic flavor. In fact, tumeric has been so extensively used in adulterating the mustard flour that many con- sumers have become so accustomed to it that, in judging the prepared mustard meal with the eye, they prefer it on account of its yellow color to the genuine mustard. It is claimed by some that tumeric is desirable in toning down the pungency of mustard and in adding to its keeping quality, but if it was too pungent more yellow seed might be used in place of an admixture. Tumeric is treated more as a constituent of the mustard than as a foreign substance — a fact which makes it appear almost a commercial necessity. This should not be allowed. The natural color of a pure meal is grayish or ashen, more like that of corn meal, and accordingly corn meal is considered a very good article to use as an adul- terant; turnip, radish, and rape seed, and broken crack- ers are also often used. They are mixed with mustard seed and milled with it to increase the bulk and obtain more value from the cake. Tumeric, whose coloring matter is called curcumin, is a root containing starch. It resembles ginger and is ground in the same way as ginger. It is more gener- ally used in preference to ocher or yellow earth. As mustard flour does not contain any starch, the fraudu- lent tumeric and starch are readily detected in the farina by the use of iodine and ammonia. Place a little of the suspected sample, which has been previously heated and afterwards allowed to cool, on a piece of glass and add the ammonia or iodine, when the brown coloring prin- i167.) ‘ ciple of the tumeric will be brought out. It may also be detected by its action with borax or boric acid and Martin yellow (dinitronapthol) by the use of 95 per cent. of alcohol. If capsicum be present the test would best be observed by treating the dry mustard with strong alcohol by percolation, which would develop the peculiar pungency of the capsicum when concentrated. The microscope is the best aid to detect it. Wheat flour, if used to adulterate, contains but 1.2 to 2.1 per cent., and reduces the natural yellow color of mustard, which must then be toned up with tumeric or some other coloring matter. In the discussion of the analysis of mustard seed we may add that the flour is fairly constant m its composi- tion; water is present in small amounts, varying between 3 and 7 per cent.; ash varies between 4 and 6 per cent., and so foreign mineral matter is easily detected. Volatile oil is present in the seed in small amounts, varying from 2.06 in one to as little as 0.55 in another. Fixed oil is one of the most prominent constituents of the seed. It varies in amount from 31 to 87 per cent. Starch is entirely absent in the whole seed. Crude fiber varies, depending on the care and method of milling. The amount should not be more than 6 to 7 per cent. Albuminoids make up a large part of the seed, varying from 25 to 30 per cent. If they are below 20 per cent. this fact points to dilution with material poor in nitrogen. The undetermined matter consists of gum and some unidentified sub- stances soluble in alcohol, whose estimation is of no par- ticular value, as a means of detecting adulterations. As a whole, for general reference, the f ollowing table may be used: Water,!) 2) 30). 8). 0° 8) per cent: Ashe Noi. ds & 0) toy, Oper ‘eent: Volatile Oil, .. % to 2 per cent. Fixed Oil, . . 31 to 37 per cent., from entire seed Fixed Oil, . . 16 to 18 per cent., from cake Starch... 4, Nene Crude Fiber, . 5 to 18 per cent. Albuminoids, . 25 to 32 per cent. [ 168 J SAGE 1 Flower 2 Flower without stamens CHAPTER XV HERBS EARLY every one is familiar with the subject of this chapter. The sweet and aromatic herbs for culinary purposes are found in both hemispheres, and little, therefore, need be said about them. Of those who know them, none are better acquainted or more familiar with their use than the farmer’s wife. The herbs we are to consider are the few having that peculiar property of imparting to fresh meats a flavor, so much esteemed, which brings them into general use. They are also used for medicinal purposes of which we have the following kinds: Sage, marjoram, savory, parsley, and thyme. “Herbs to still the summer.” “The knowledge of stilling is one of pretty feat,” but it is a lost art. The stilling room was also a drying room, and in breezy shadows throughout the long summer days were drying leaves and sprigs of many aromatic plants. The branches were often made up into small bunches, the size to be used for a kettle of soup or for the basting of a single roast. “These were the fagots of herbs so often ordered in old recipes, and were a not unimportant part of household supplies. There is no spice comparable for herbs use in rosemary.” Pliny says that the serpents sought the shade of the fennel to strengthen their sight. Culpepper noted the starry in- fluence under which each plant grew. SAGE Sage (Salvia officinalis) is the common sage. Sage, sauge, swage, natural order Laminaceoe. French, Sauge; Portuguese, Salva; Italian and Latin, Salvia, Salvas (Culpepper). It is governed by Mars. Salvia, from salvo, to save or heal. The most exten- sively used of the herbs is the sage. Its high reputation as a medicine lasted for years. The Arabians valued it, [ 169 ] and the medical school of Salerno summed up its sur- passing merits in the line, “ Cur morietor homo cut salvia cresit in horto?”’ (How can a man die who grows sage in his garden?) Perhaps this originated the English saying, ‘““ Who eats sage in May shall live for aye.” Parkinson says: “‘ It maketh the hayre blacke, it is good for woundis. ior lethargy and forgetfulness bathe the back of the head with a decoction of sage and smal- lage.” Pepys notes that in churchyards between Gas- port and Southampton, England, the custom prevailed of sowing the graves with sage. Evelyn sums up its noble properties by its assiduous use as making man im- mortal. ‘‘ We cannot, therefore, but allow the tender summities of the young leaves but principally the flowers in our sallet.” Salvia officinalis and S. grandiflora. 'The first is the common garden sage, a native of southern Europe, and has been naturalized for many years in this country as a garden plant. It is a perennial shrub, seldom more than two feet high and sometimes treated as an annual. The plant has a pubescent four-sided stem with erect branches, hoary with down, and leafy at the base, those bearing flowers being about a foot or a foot and a half long. The flowers are in racemes of blue variegated with purple (rarely red), arranged in spiked whorls. The flowers have but two perfect stamens, the filaments of which bear at their summit a cross thread. A much- elongated connective is fastened by a point and has one cell of the anther at the upper end and the other, but imperfect, cell at the other end. The seeds of many species, when steeped in water, become covered with a mucilaginous slime, like that of quince seeds. The leaves are ovate, oblong, lanceolate, finely notched, are curiously wrinkled or rough, hairy or tomentose, and of a whitish-green color. The leaves and tops are gath- ered and dried during the flowering seasons, which is in June and July. Sage is slightly tonic with a pecu- liar, strong, astringent, aromatic, camphorous odor, and a sharp, warm, slightly bitter taste. These properties are owing to its volatile oil (sage oil) , which may be ob- tained by distilling the plant with water infusicn, but arent a 3, hoe 4 Leaf and flower stem Bract of flower Different views of flower MARJORAM more especially in alcohol. Formerly it had a high reputation as a sudorific and as an antiseptic, and was so esteemed by the ancients, especially by the Chinese, but at present, though officinal, it is little used as a remedy except in domestic practice, and it has no place in the pharmacopeeia. But the infusion is much valued in cases of gastric debility as a gargle, checking flatulency with speed and certainty. It is a good astringent and nerve tonic as well as a good remedy for use in cases of rheumatism. But its great use is as a condiment in flavoring dress, sausage, cheese, etc. Sage grows best in dry soil and is found growing on sunny mountain slopes and rocks. It has long been in general cultivation in gardens, and it is easily raised from the seed or from cuttings or divisions of the root. Roots should be planted about six inches apart. Sage brush (Carteunissia hidenlata) is found on Western table lands. The apple-bearing sage (S. pomifera) is a native of Southern Europe and is remarkable for its red- dish or purple bracts and large gall nuts growing on the branches as on the leaves of the oak. These are known as sage apples. They have an agreeable aro- matic taste and are edible. Both these species are used to adulterate. The Salvia longiflora of Peru sometimes attains the height of twenty feet, with flowers six to eight inches long. Several kinds are found fifteen feet in height. There are said to be nearly 300 varieties of sage, among which are the following: S. splenden, with large spiked, scarlet flowers, from Mexico, which is esteemed by flor- ists; S. coccinea, with smaller, but handsome flowers; the open-corolled S. patens, with tall, open spikes, with large blue flowers; the bracteated S. involucrata, with thick obtuse spikes of reddish-purple flowers; the Clory S. sclarea, with large, beautiful, purplish-green decidu- ous bracts. MARJORAM Marjoram (Origanum marjorum). Origanum (meaning in Greek, joy of the moun- tains). f 179) Sweet marjoram, a genus of the natural order of plants labiatoe or mint family. It is chiefly a native of Greece and the countries bordering on the Mediterra- nean. It is an annual shrubby plant with a stem about one foot high, and has a ten-ribbed, five-toothed calyx, loose spikes, and broad bracts. It is peculiarly aromatic and fragrant, and is much used, as other mint plants are used, in common cooking. It has nearly an entire ovate, or egg-shaped, grayish or green, leaf, covered on both sides with a thin down, situated about three roundish heads of small purplish flowers crowded in cylindrical or oblong spikes, which are imbricated with colored bracts. It flowers in August. The fiowers are very small and inconspicuous. Marjoram contains a yellowish essential oil (oil of marjoram or oil of origanum), which is ob- tained from some species by distillation. It yields fifteen ounces from one hundred and fifty pounds of the recent- cut plants. This oil will become solid by standing. It is used for toothache and for cancers. An infusion of it is a stimulant and is a good remedy for nervousness. It is mixed with olive oil to make a stimulating liniment, which is used as a remedy for rheumatic complaints and for baldness, and in case of sprains and bruises. ‘The common marjoram, wild (O. valgore), is found on dry hilly, bushy places. PARSLEY Parsley (Carwm petroselinum sativum). French, Persil (Culpepper). It is governed by Venus. Parsley is a biennial plant, with a fleshy, spindle- shaped root and a rough, erect, smooth-branching stem. It is a native of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It is now widely cultivated in all parts of the civilized world as a culinary vegetable, and it sometimes runs wild, the root being one of the principal parts. It is a great favorite on account of its much-divided, finely cut, crisped, aromatic leaves, which are used in flavoring soups and other dishes and for garnishing. The leaves of the wild parsley are plain. Parsley has a white or greenish-yellow flower and from the seed an essential wre PARSLEY 1 Ripening fruit 4 Stamen 2 Ripening fruit, more developed pb) Pistill 3 Flower 6 Seed oa Or WN ee SAVORY Flower Flower without stamens Leaf Flower cut, showing stamens Corolla oo-S Leaves of an axil Pistil Stamen Seed oil is obtained, named apial, which is used as a drug in place of quinine in intermittent fevers. Its leaves are often chewed to neutralize the scent of onions. Parsley wreaths were twined for the victors of the Nemean games, but now it has fallen from its high estate to flavor or to garnish some lordly dish. The seed was formerly mixed in cheese curds with fennel and thyme and other fragrant herbs. The roots were also used as a relish, as noted in the words of Wynkyn, “de worde in the Boke of Keriynge says ‘quinces and peres Ciryppe with parcelery rate. Bight to begyn your mele.” Parsley seeds germinate imperfectly and the disappointment of the sower was explained by the belief that the devil took his tithe thereof. Many dire evils, belief in which can scarcely now be understood, were attached to the sowing, gathering, and even dreaming of parsley seed. These beliefs may have originated in the fact that the Greeks strewed it upon newly made graves. To be in need of parsley was a colloquialism which expressed the imminence of death. Herrick said: “Dear Perenna, Prithee come and with Smallage dress my tomb.” | SAVORY Satureia Hortensis, a genus of the natural order labiatoe, belonging to the mint family. French, Savorae. It is said to be governed by Mercury (Culpepper) and was supposed to belong to the satyrs. The summer savory is chiefly of two kinds — S. Hortensis, the sum- mer savory, and S. Montana, the winter savory. Both kinds are natives of Southern Europe. Savory is men- tioned in the Old Testament (Genesis, Chap. XX VIT, 4th verse) : ““ And make me savoury meet such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.” Savory was probably intro- duced into Britain by the Romans, as we find it spoken of in a Latin treatise, “ Husbandrie of Pallodius,” at the fifteenth century, translated about 1420. It is a common herbaceous plant, from ten inches to one foot high, being half shrubby, with numerous stalks, which iz] are very hard and woody near the bottom. The leaves are narrow, oblong or linear or lanceolate, entire, acute at the end, with resinous dots and short axillary, standing two at each joint, with a quantity of young ones in their axils. The flowers, which grow on the upper part of the stalk among the leaves, are white with a tinge of blue or red. The whole plant of the common summer savory (S. Hortensis), as our cultivated garden herb is known, has an agreeable pungent taste and aromatic odor, and is analogous to those of thyme (thymus), differing from it in the regular five-toothed or fine- cleft calyx and having the stamens bent together into an arch under the upper lip of the corolla, both being in common use as a seasoning in cooking, either fresh or dried, for flavoring dishes, and especially for flavor- ing beans, and is cultivated for these culinary purposes in Europe and America. Its tea is used as a remedy for colic and as a cathartic. Winter savory (8S. Montana) is used in the same way as the summer savory. THYME Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris) . French, Thym; German, Thyman. Thyme teucrium marum and Thyme palliwm. It is a plant of the genus thymus, a humble, half-shrubby plant of the natural order labiate (mint family) ; Latin, thymus incense, thus indicating its former use on sacrificial altars. It is said to have made the bed in the stable at Bethlehem and was used in many charms and incantations. “It is ever the bee’s alluring time,” and it was wild thyme which gave the famed flavor to the honey of Mount Hymettus. Among the Greeks thyme denoted graceful elegance of the Attic style. To smell of thyme was an expression of praise applied to those whose style was admirable. In the days of chiv- alry, peradventure, very highly noted ladies used to embroider their knightly heroes’ scarfs with the figure of a bee hovering about a sprig of thyme, the bees as the belles of thyme. arly lists of English plants give no name with which it can certainly be identified. It grows from six inches to one foot high and has a two- [ 174 ] Plant Root Leaf ,5 Stamens ono-ls lipped calyx and four diverging stamens and is clothed with a hoary down, with narrow, almost elliptical leaves with edges turned in. It may have many stems slightly indented in pairs, standing erect upon short petioles or decumbent at the base, which bear very small ovate leaves, which are sharp-pointed, while those of the whorls are blunt. The flowers are of a pale purple or whitish or reddish color, which grow in separate whorls, six ina whorl. It flowers from May until August and is a native of Kurope and especially of Southern France. It is commonly found growing on dry hills and is culti- vated in gardens on account of its fragrance. It has a pungent, aromatic property and is largely used as a seasoning for soups, sauces, etc. From it is also dis- tilled the oil of thyme, which is considerably used in veterinary practice and for perfumery, and often passes as oil of organum. ‘The tea of thyme is also used for nervous habits. The wild creeping thyme, or mother of thyme, is 7". serpillum, a less erect plant which has a pro- cumbent stem with many branches from two to three feet long, small entire oval leaves and purplish flowers, arranged in whorls, which are united in a dense termi- nal leafy head. ‘This variety is abundant on hills and mountains in Great Britain and in all parts of Europe and the north of Asia, between forty and fifty varieties being described. It is less fragrant than garden thyme, but both species have the same aromatic essential oil. T'. serpillwm has procumbent stems, numerous short ascending branches, ending in short, loose, leafy, whorled flower spikes, the leaves being egg-shaped and narrow and more or less fringed toward the bottom, those of the flower spikes being similar but smaller. There are two forms— 7". en serpillwm, with flowering branches, ascending from shoots, which are barren at the tip in one head, and the upper lip of the corolla oblong; and 7’. chamoedrys, in which all the branches ascend from the crown of the root stalk with whorls in many axillary heads and a short and broad upper lip to the corolla. The flowering branches, herba thymi and herba serpylli, are used in medicine as a powerful stimu- lant. [175 ] The lemon thyme, or lemon-scented thyme of our gardens, is regarded as a variety of thyme serpyllum known as citratus or citriodrus, which is generally a hardy and very dwarfed traveling evergreen, of lower growth than the common garden thyme. No species of thyme is indigenous in America. Seed should be sown in drills or broadcast in March or April, in light, fine earth and raked in lightly. ‘The young plants are transplanted in the summer when from two to three inches high. After they are from three to five inches in growth, they should be thinned out to about ten inches apart. Thyme is also propagated by slips of the branching shoots in the spring or early autumn, but more especially by sections of the brush or by removing rooted branches. The harvesting takes place in August by cutting the plants rather closely down with a very sharp sickle. The seed should be dried on cloth, rubbed out clean, and preserved in a dry place for sowing the following year. In using the herb for distillation it should not be dried, but the crop gathered each day should be put in the still at once. SEED In addition to the seed before mentioned which are used in connection with spices are the caraway, or carum carut. Coriander or the dried fruit of the Cariandrum salivuum, and the cardamom or the dried capsules of Elettaria cardamomum. CARAWAY Caraway (Carum carut). The common name, caraway or carraway, is given to the dried fruits carwm carut, which is a biennial umbel- liferous plant. The English name caraway and the Spanish name alcarahuega are derived from the name given to the fruit by the Arabians, “karawya.” It is a native of Great Britain, growing on very low ground with a root much like the parsnip. The seeds are sown in drills in the autumn soon after they are ripe, and [ 176 ] must be thinned out the same as carrots and other similar plants, and must be kept free from weeds. They will flower in June and are ready for harvesting in July. The plant grows two or three feet high. ‘Ihe leaves are long and subdivided into numerous pinnule or seg- ments which are narrow-pointed and of a dark color. The flowers grow in terminal umbels. The seeds are two, naked, brown, striated, and of an oblong shape, hot and acrid but pleasant to the taste. The seed abounds in essential oil containing gummy and resinous parts. Its tincture is used as a stomachic and carminative. It is used as a flavoring in cooking. CORIANDER (Kariandrum.) The product known as coriander seed consists of the dried ripe fruit of cariandrum salivum, which is the only specie of the genus umbel- liferoe. It is an annual herb cultivated in France and Germany for its seed. It grows about two feet high with branching stems. The stalks are round and erect and hollow, but have a pith within. The leaves are bipin- nate, the lower ones divided into broad or wedge-shaped, deeply cut segments, while the upper ones are divided into narrow parts and more finely cut. The flowers grow in clusters of a white or reddish color upon its branches. The umbels have five to eight rays without 2 general involucre and the partial ones consists of a few small bracts. The seeds follow, two after each flower. They are half round and are the only part of the plant used. 'The most characteristic feature is this globular fruit, which is of a chamois or pale-yellow color and is about the size of the white pepper corn, which is crowned by the teeth of the calyx and contains no oil channels on the outer surface, but has two on the inner face of each half of the fruit. The ridges are five in number and very indistinct. As the two carpels, of which the fruit is composed, do not readily separate one from the other, they being protected by the ligneous pericarp, the fruit must be broken before submitting them to distillation. The unripe fruit possesses the intensely disgusting odors of the other parts of the plant, and for that reason it bi should be allowed to ripen fully before gathering. When they are dry they are sweet and fragrant. They dispel wind and warm and strengthen the stomach, and assist in digestion, and are good for pains in the head. They are also used in whole mixed spices, used for pick- ling. CARDAMOM Cardamom, Kardamom (Amomum cardamomum). Cardamom is the fruit of various Kast India or Chi- nese plants of the genera elettari of the ginger family (Zingiberaceoe). Especially the most esteemed are those contained in the dried capsules, . cardamomum of Malabar, which differs from the genus amomum by its elongated filiform tube of the corolla, by the pres- ence of internal lateral lobes in the shape of very small tooth-like processes and by the filaments not being pro- longed beyond the anther. All the species are natives of the tropical parts of India. Small or Malabar carda- moms, as they are known commercially, are the rhizomes which are thick, fleshy, or woody and ridged with scars of the attachments of previous leaves, giving off fibrous roots below. Stems, perennial, erect, smooth, jointed, enveloped in the spongy sheaths of the leaves, from six to nine feet high and about one inch thick, round and green and hollow, but with pith within, and resemble our reeds in many respects. The leaves are a half yard long, alternate, sessile in their sheath, entire lanceolate, fine-pointed, pubescent above, silky beneath, sheaths slightly villous with a roundish ligule rising from the mouth, and as broad as a man’s hand. Besides these stalks, there rises from the same root others which are weak and tender and about eight inches high, which produce the flowers, which are small and greenish. Fol- lowing every flower comes one of the fruits called the great cardamom, which is a light, dry, hollow fruit of a whitish color, and somewhat triangular in shape, and of the size of a small bean, and of a dry substance on the outside, but with several small seeds within, which are reddish in color and very acrid but pleasant to the taste. These fruits are called the lesser cardamoms or [ 178 ] cardamom seeds, and they are excellent to strengthen the stomach and to assist digestion. ‘They also are good for disorders of the head and are equal to anything to be had for colics, and are best used by chewing. They are used in whole mixed spices. ‘There are two other kinds of cardamoms known as the middle cardamom, a long fruit, seldom met with, and the great cardamom, generally called “ Grain of Paradise.” In the home market three kinds of cardamoms are found under the curious names of “ shorts,” “ short- longs,” and “ long-longs.” Shorts are capsules from 2 quarter to half an inch long and a quarter of an inch broad, and the ‘longest of the long-longs is about one inch in length. [ 179 ] Cie atin fe: ‘% Nt i ¥ i Ses initia