Pharmacographia : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India / by Friedrich A. Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury.

  • Friedrich August Flückiger
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pharmacographia : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India / by Friedrich A. Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    on Folia et fasti garofalorum. Pegolotti1 a little later, names both as beim>- articles of trade at Constantinople. Clove Leaves are enumerated2 as an import into Palestine in the 12th century; they are also mentioned in a list of the drugs sold at Frankfort3 about the year 1450: we are not aware that they are used in modern times. As to Clove Stalks, they are still a considerable object of trade, espe- cially from Zanzibar, where they are called by the natives Vikunza. They taste tolerably aromatic, and yield 4 'to 5 per cent, of vola- tile oil; they are used for adulterating the Ground Cloves, sold by grocers. Such an admixture may. be detected by the microscope, especially if the powder after treatment with potash, be examined in glycerin. If clove stalks have been ground, thick-walled or stone-cells will be found in the powder ; such cells do not occur in cloves. Powdered allspice is also an adulterant of powdered cloves; it also contains stone- cells, but in addition numerous starch-granules which are entirely wanting in cloves. 2. Mother Cloves, Anthophylli,—are the fruits of the clove-tree, and are ovate-oblong berries about an inch in length and much less rich in essential oil than cloves. Though occasionally seen in the London drug sales in some quantity, they are not an article of regular import.4 As they contain very large starch-granules, their presence as an adultera- tion of ground cloves would be revealed by the microscope. 3. Royal Cloves—Under this name or Caryophyllum regium, a curious monstrosity of the clove was formerly held in the highest reputa- tion, on account of its rarity and the strange stories told respecting it.5 bpecimens in our possession show it to be a very small clove, distinguished by an abnormal number of sepals and large bracts at the base of the calyx-tube, the corolla and internal organs being imperfectly developed. FRUCTUS PIMENTZE. Semen Amomi, Pimento, Allspice, Jamaica Pepper ‘ F. Poivre de la Jamaique, Piment des Anglais, Foutc-dpice ,■ Gr. Nelkcnpfetfer, Nclkcnkopfe, Neugewiirz. Botanical Origin Pimcnta officinalis Lindley 5 (Myrtus Pimenta L., Lugenia Pimcnta L)C.), a beautiful evergreen tree, growing to about 30 leet in height, with a trunk 2 feet in circumference, common through- out the W est India Islands. In Jamaica, it prefers limestone hills near the sea, and is especially plentiful on the north side of the island. History—The high value placed on the spices of India, sufficiently explains the interest with which aromatic and pungent plants were regarded by the early explorers of the New World; while the eager desire to obtain these lucrative commodities is shown by the names 4 See p. 208, note 1. Rccucil des Historiens des Croisadcs Lois, ii. (1843) 173. 1873F1nk38er’ ^ Frankfurter Liste> Hu lie, 4 We find in the fortnightly price cur- rent ol a London drug-broker under date Nov. 27, 1873, the announcement of the sale of 1,050 bags of Mother Cloves at 2d. to 3d. per lb., besides 4,200 packages of Clove Stalks at 3c?. to 4c?. per lb. 5 Kumpliius, Herb. Amb. ii. 11. tab. 2.— See] also Hasskarl, Ncucr Schliissel ' zu Rumph’s Herb. Amb., Halle, 1866 • Berg Lin’icea 1854. 137 ; Valmont do Bornare’ Diet, d Hist. Nat. iii. (1775) 70. 0 Collectanea Botanica, 1821,’sub. tab. 19.