Page
THE NUTMEG. 145
AN ABANDONED HOME. 150
THE AMERICAN BARN OWL. 155
A SPRINGTIME. 156
THE KANGAROO. 157
INVITATION TO THE REDBREAST. 158
FEATHERS. 161
VISION AND SCENT OF VULTURES. 163
THE HOARY BAT. 167
THE COMING OF SPRING. 168
THE NASHVILLE WARBLER. 169
CHIEF SIMON POKAGON. 173
NATURE AT FIRST HAND. 175
THE QUAILS' QUADRILLE. 176
THE GRAPE. 179
PROSE POEMS OF IVAN TURGENIEF. 180
THE BLUEBIRD. 181
THE FIRST BLUEBIRD. 181
THE KIT FOX. 182
AMONG ANIMALS. 185
SPRING FASHIONS. 186
BIRDS THAT DO NOT SING. 188
THE HYACINTH. 191
A QUARREL BETWEEN JENNY WREN AND THE FLYCATCHERS. 192
THE NUTMEG.
(_Myristica fragrans Hauthryn._)
DR. ALBERT SCHNEIDER.
Northwestern University School of Pharmacy.
_Dum_: A gilt nutmeg.
_Biron_: A lemon.
_Long_: Stuck with cloves.
--_Shakespeare, "Love's Labor Lost," V. 2._
The nutmeg is the spice obtained from a medium-sized evergreen tree
reaching a height of from twenty-five to forty feet. This tree is
dioecious, that is the male flowers and the female flowers are borne
upon different plants. The male flower consists of a column of from
six to ten stamens enclosed by a pale yellow tubular perianth. The
female flowers occur singly, in twos or threes, in the axils of the
leaves; they also have a pale yellow perianth. The ovary has a single
seed which finally matures into the nutmeg and mace. The mature seed is
about one and one-fourth inches long and somewhat less in transverse
diameter, so that it is somewhat oval in outline. It is almost entirely
enveloped by a fringed scarlet covering known as arillus or arillode
(mace). The entire fruit, nut, mace, and all, is about the size of a
walnut and like that nut has a thick outer covering, the pericarp,
which is fibrous and attains a thickness of about half an inch. At
maturity the pericarp splits in halves from the top to the base or
point of attachment. The leaves of the nutmeg tree are simple, entire,
and comparatively large.
The English word nutmeg and the apparently wholly different German
_Muskatnuss_, are etymologically similar. The "meg" of nutmeg is
said to be derived from the old English "muge," which is from the
Latin "muscus," meaning musk, in reference to the odor. "Muskat"
of the German name is also derived from "muscus" and "nuss" means
nut, so we have in both instances "musk nut." The arillus was named
_Muscatenbluome_ (nutmeg flower) by the early Dutch because of its
bright red color.
It is generally believed that nutmeg and mace were not used in ancient
times. Martius maintains that the word _macis_ mentioned in a comedy
by Plautus (260-180 B. C.) refers to mace. Flückiger, however, is
inclined to believe that this word refers to the bark of some tree of
India, as the word is frequently used in that sense by noted writers,
as Scribonius, Largus, Dioscorides, Galenus, Plinius, and others. About
800 or 900 A. D., the Arabian physicians were familiar with nutmeg
and were instrumental in introducing it into western countries. The
Europeans first used nutmegs in church ceremonies as incense. Previous
to 1200 nutmegs were quite expensive, but soon became cheaper as
the plant was more and more extensively cultivated. About 1214 they
found their way into pharmacy and began to be used among cosmetics.
Hildegard described nutmegs in 1150, and Albertus Magnus (1193-1280)
described the tree and fruit. Not until about 1500 did European writers
learn the home of the nutmeg. Ludovico Barthema designates the island
Banda as its habitat.
The Portuguese monopolized the spice trade, including nutmegs, for a
time, but as stated in a previous paper, they were driven out by the
Dutch, who regulated the nutmeg trade as they did the clove trade.
That is, they destroyed all nutmeg trees not under the control of
the government and burned all nutmegs which could not be sold. The
government nutmeg plantations were in charge of army officials and
worked by slaves. In 1769 the French succeeded in transplanting the
nutmeg to the Isle de France. From 1796 to 1802 the spice islands
were under the control of the English, who transplanted the nutmeg to
Bencoolen, Penang, and, later, to Singapore. In 1860 the Singapore
plantations were destroyed by a disease of the tree. The nutmeg is now
cultivated in the Philippines, West Indies, South America, and other
tropical islands and countries. The botanic gardens have been largely
instrumental in extending nutmeg cultivation in the tropical English
possessions. Besides _Myristica fragrans_ there are several other
species which are found useful. _M. Otoba_ of the U. S. of Colombia
yields an edible article known as Santa Fé nutmeg. The seeds of the
tropical _M. sebifera_ (tallow nutmeg) yield a fixed oil or fat used in
making soap and candles. This oil is also known as American nutmeg oil.
The trees are produced from seeds. After sprouting the plants are
transferred to pots, in which they are kept until ready for the nutmeg
plantation. Transferring from the pots to the soil must be done
carefully, as any considerable injury to the terminal rootlets kills
the plants. A rich, loamy soil with considerable moisture is required
for the favorable and rapid growth of the plants. They thrive best
in river valleys, from sea-level to 300 and 400 feet or even to an
elevation of 2,000 feet. The trees are usually planted twenty-five or
thirty feet apart, in protected situations, so as to shelter them from
strong winds and excessive sunlight.
The trees do not yield a crop until about the ninth year and continue
productive for seventy or eighty years. Each tree yields on an average
about ten pounds of nutmegs and about one pound of mace annually. If
the trees are well cared for and the soil well fertilized, the yield is
much greater, even tenfold.
As already stated the nutmeg plant is dioecious. A seed may therefore
develop into a male or female plant; if a male plant it will of course
not produce nutmegs. The only way to learn whether it is one or the
other is to wait until the first flowers are formed during the fifth or
sixth year. The planter does, however, not sit by and wait; he simply
grafts the young shoots with branches of the female tree. Some male
trees, about one to twenty female trees, are allowed to mature in order
that pollination, by insects, may be possible, as without pollination
and subsequent fertilization the seed could not develop.
The tree bears fruit all the year round, so that nutmegs may be
collected at all times. It is, however, customary to collect two
principal crops, one during October, November, and December, and
another during April, May, and June. The nuts are picked by hand or
gathered by means of long hooks and the thick pericarp removed. The
red arillus is also carefully removed and flattened between blocks of
wood so as to reduce the danger of breaking as much as possible. Mace
and nuts are then dried separately. The nuts are placed upon hurdles
for several weeks until the kernels, nutmegs, rattle inside of the
thin, tasteless, and odorless hard shell. This shell is now carefully
broken and removed; the worm-eaten nutmegs are thrown away and the
sound ones are rolled in powdered lime and again dried for several
weeks. Generally the drying is done over a smoldering fire so that the
nuts are really smoke dried. For shipment they are packed in air-tight
boxes which have been smoked and dusted with lime on the inside. Liming
gives the nuts a peculiar mottled appearance and tends to destroy
parasites which may be present.
Mace loses its carmine color upon drying and becomes reddish-brown
and very brittle. It has an odor and taste similar to those of the
nut, but is more delicately aromatic. Wild or Bombay mace is obtained
from _Myristica fatua_ and is frequently used to adulterate the true
mace or Banda mace. The nuts of _M. fatua_ are longer than those of
_M. fragrans_ and are therefore designated as long nutmegs; the term
"male nutmegs" applied to them is incorrect. The long nutmeg is greatly
inferior to the true nutmeg, or round nutmeg as it is sometimes called.
Banda supplies by far the most nutmegs at the present time. Penang
nutmegs are of excellent quality and are always placed upon the
market unlimed, but they are frequently limed subsequently in foreign
ports and markets. Singapore nutmegs are usually unlimed. Nutmegs are
generally designated by the name of the country from which they are
obtained, as Dutch or Batavian, Sumatra, Penang, Singapore, Java, and
Banda nutmegs.
There are a number of so-called nutmegs which are derived from plants
not even remotely related to _Myristica_. Ackawai, Camara, or Camaru
nutmeg is the nut of a tree growing in Guiana highly valued as a cure
for colic and dysentery. American, Jamaica, Mexican, or Calabash nutmeg
is the spicy seed of _Monodora Myristica_. Brazilian nutmeg is the seed
of _Cryptocarya moschata_, which serves as a very inferior substitute
for nutmeg. California nutmeg is the fruit of a conifer (_Torreya_),
which resembles nutmeg so closely in appearance that it has been
supposed that _Myristica fragrans_ was a native of California. This
fruit has, however, a very camphoraceous odor. Clove or Madagascar
nutmeg is the fruit of _Ravensara aromatica_, a tree native in
Madagascar. Peruvian nutmeg is the seed of _Laurelia sempervirens_.
The nutmeg has a peculiar mottled appearance, ranging from grayish
brown to light gray or white in the limed article, the depressions and
grooves holding the lime while the ridges and elevations are free from
it. In Shakespeare's Henry V. the Duke of Orleans, in speaking of the
dauphin's dapple-gray horse, says: "He's of the color of nutmeg." The
taste of nutmeg is peculiarly aromatic, pungent, and somewhat bitter.
The principal use of nutmeg is that of a spice, although not so
commonly employed or so well liked as some other spices. It contains a
fat which forms the nutmeg butter; this is an unctuous solid substance
of an orange-brown or yellowish-brown color, with the odor and taste of
nutmeg. This fat is used as a stimulating application in rheumatism,
sprains, and paralysis. Nutmegs also contain some volatile oil, which
is said to be poisonous; at least some persons are very susceptible
to the effects of the volatile oil of nutmeg. In this connection it
might be stated that the frequent and long-continued use of spices
is injurious, producing dyspepsia, functional heart trouble, and
nervousness, and seems to have a special action upon the liver, causing
an excessive development of connective tissue and a reduction in the
functional activity of the liver cells: "Nutmeg liver" is a condition
resulting from passive venous congestion of that organ, and refers to
its mottled or nut-meggy appearance only.
Mace is comparatively rich in volatile oil. Nutmeg and mace are both
extensively employed as condiments. They are frequently given in the
form of a powder to stimulate and aid digestion. Nutmeg flavor consists
of nutmeg, oil of nutmeg, and alcohol. Mace-ale is ale sweetened and
spiced with mace.
It is stated that whole nutmegs have been adulterated with wooden
imitations. Connecticut is known as the Wooden Nutmeg State because it
is facetiously said that such nutmegs were manufactured there.
[Illustration: FROM KOEHLER'S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.
NUTMEG.]
Description of plate:
_A_, branch with staminate flowers; 1, stamens magnified; 2,
longitudinal view of stamens; 3, transverse section of
stamens; 4, pollen-grains; 5, pistillate flower; 6, pistil; 7,
fruit; 8, half of pericarp removed; 9, nut with arillus (mace);
10, nut without mace; 11, nut in longitudinal section; 12,
embryo.