MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. Thun. Nutmeg.
M. fragrans, flout. I M. officinalis, Linn.
M. aromatica, Lam.
Jowz-ut-teib, . . ARAB. Jowz-bewa, . . PERS. Za-te-pho, . . . Bumf. Jatapala, . . . ,SAxsK, Jaephal, . . . Hum. Jadikaia, . . . TAM. Pala, Buwahpala, MALAY. Jadikaia, Jaji kaia, TEL.
The Mace. Buzbas, Bisbaseh, ARAB. f Bunga-pala, . . MALAY.
Jytree, . . . BF,No. Jatiputri, . . . SA NSK.
Jae-putri, . . DuRn.
A tree with small, pale yellow, and inodorous flowers, successfully cultivated in Sumatra, Ben ennlen. and Pi nanw The wirth is 6 to 10 inches a foot above the ground. It branches like tho laurel, and its loftiest sprays are frequently 50 feet high. The fruit when ripening resembles a peach, and on removing the epicarp or fleshy outer rind is seen a spherical nut, black, clasped by a tine branching aril, of a vermilion colour, which is the mace of commerce. When ripe, the fruit ispicked, the outer part removed, the mace taken off and dried in shallow baskets in the sun. The nut contains a volatile as well as a fixed oil. Nutmeg butter is prepared by beating up the nutmegs, enclosing tho paste in a bag, and ex posing it to the vapour of water, and afterwards expressing the fat by means of heated plates. The nutmeg tree is monoecious as well as dice cious, but no means is known of discovering the sexes before the period of inflorescence. Upon an average, the nutmeg tree fruits at the age of 7 years, increases in produce till the 15th year, and is said to continue prolific for 60 or 80 years.
Seven months in general elapse between the appearance of the blossom and the ripening of tho fruit ; and the produce of one bearing tree with another, under good cultivation, in the 15th year, may be calculated at 5 lbs. of nutmegs and 1; lbs. of mace. It bears all the year round, but more plentifully in some months than others, and generally yields more abundantly every. other year. It is necessary that the roots of the trees during their growth should be kept well covered with mould, for they have a tendency to seek the surface. The growth of the lateral branches is to be alone encouraged, and all suckers, or dead and unproductive branches, are to be removed with the pruning knife, and the lower shoots lopped off, with the view of establishing an unimpeded circulation of air.
The arillus, or mace, is thick, between horny and fleshy. The smell and taste of the arillua are peculiarly fragrant and agreeable. It softens, but does not dissolve in the mouth. Beneath the arillus is found a bony shell, which covers the almond or kernel ; this shell encloses the nutmeg of commerce.
The odour of the nutmeg is most agreeably aromatic •, its taste hot, and analogous • to the smell. The nut readily divides under the teeth, and is partially soluble in the saliva.