All the properties of this well-known substance depend upon an essential
oil, filling the dark coloured veins which run through its substance,
the other components are starch, gum, wax, and a fixed oil. The oil
obtained by expression is improperly called _oil of mace_, for it would
appear to be a triple compound of fixed oil, volatile oil, and wax, and
which, although limpid when first drawn, soon acquires on cooling the
consistence of spermaceti. _Mace_ is the involucrum of the nut. MED.
USES. Stimulant, and in large doses, as from ʒij to ʒiij, narcotic,
frequently producing delirium. _See Cullen Mat. Med. ii. 201._ OFFICINAL
PREP: _Spir: Myristicæ_. L.E.D. FRAUDS. Nutmegs are frequently despoiled
of their essential oil, by being punctured and submitted to the
operation of decoction, the orifices being subsequently closed by
powdered Sassafras; the imposition is detected by the comparative
lightness of the nutmeg, and by its extreme fragility; the holes may
also be discovered by carefully examining the surface of the nut, after
having steeped it in hot water.