_Mace_; F. _Macis_; G. _Macis_, _Muskatblüthe_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Myristica fragrans_ Houttuyn (see p. 502). The
seed which, deprived of its hard outer shell or testa, is known as
the _nutmeg_, is enclosed when fresh in a fleshy net-like envelope,
somewhat resembling the husk of a filbert. This organ, which is united,
though not very closely, at the base of the stony shell both with the
hilum and the contiguous portion of the raphe, of which parts it is
an expansion, is termed _arillus_,[1875] and when separated and dried
constitutes the mace of the shops. In the fresh state it is fleshy, and
of a beautiful crimson; it envelopes the seed completely only at the
base, afterwards dividing itself into broad flat lobes; which branch
into narrower strips overlapping one another towards the summit.
[1875] On the nature and origin of this organ, see Baillon, _Histoire
des Plantes_, ii. (1870) 499; also _Dictionnaire de Botanique_.
=History=—Included in that of the nutmeg (see preceding article).
=Description=—The mace, separated from the seed by hand, is dried
in the sun, thereby losing its brilliant red hue and acquiring an
orange-brown colour. It has a dull fatty lustre, exudes oil when
pressed with the nail, and is horny, brittle, and translucent. Steeped
in water it swells rather considerably. The entire arillus, compressed
and crumpled by packing, is about 1¾ inches long with a general
thickness of about ¹/₂₀ of an inch or even at ⅒ the base. Mace has
an agreeable aromatic smell nearly resembling that of nutmeg, and a
pungent, spicy, rather acrid taste.
=Microscopic Structure=—The uniform, small-celled, angular parenchyme
is interrupted by numerous brown oil-cells of larger size. The inner
part of the tissue contains also thin brown vascular bundles. The
cells of the epidermis on either side are colourless, thick-walled,
longitudinally extended, and covered with a peculiar cuticle of
broad, flat, riband-like cells, which cannot however be removed as
a continuous film. The parenchyme is loaded with small granules, to
which a red colour is imparted by Millon’s test (solution of mercurous
nitrate) and an orange hue by iodine. The granules consequently consist
of albuminous matter, and starch is altogether wanting.
=Chemical Composition=—The nature of the chemical constituents of
mace may be inferred from the following experiments performed by one
of us:—17 grammes of finely powdered mace were entirely exhausted by
boiling ether, and the latter allowed to evaporate. It left behind
5·57 grm., which after drying at 100° C. were diminished to 4·17. The
difference, 1·40 grammes, answers to the amount of _essential oil_, of
which consequently 8·2 per cent. had been present.
The residue, amounting to 24·5 per cent., was a thickish aromatic
_balsam_, in which we have not been able to ascertain the presence of
_fat_; it consisted of resin and semi-resinified essential oil. Alcohol
further removed 1·4 per cent. of an uncrystallizable sugar, which
reduced cupric oxide.
The drug having been thus treated with ether and with alcohol, yielded
almost nothing to cold water, but by means of boiling water 1·8 per
cent. of a mucilage was obtained, which turned blue by addition of
iodine, or reddish violet if previously dried. This substance is not
soluble in an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide; it appears rather
to be an intermediate body between mucilage and starch.[1876] The
composition of mace is therefore very different from that of nutmeg.
As to the _volatile oil_, of which several observers have obtained from
7 to 9 per cent.,[1877] it is a fragrant colourless liquid which we
found, when examined in a column 200 mm. long, deviated the ray 18°·8
to the right. Its greater portion consists according to Schacht (1862)
of _Macene_, C₁₀H₁₆, boiling at 160° C., and distinguished from oil of
turpentine by not forming a crystalline hydrate when mixed with alcohol
and nitric acid. Koller (1865) states that macene is identical with the
hydrocarbon of oil of nutmeg (myristicene), yet the latter is said by
Cloëz to yield no solid compound when treated with hydrochloric gas.
Macene on the other hand furnishes crystals of C₁₀H₁₆·HCl. Crude oil of
mace contains, like that of nutmeg, an oxygenated oil, the properties
of which have not yet been investigated.
=Commerce=—Mace, mostly the produce as it would appear of the Banda
Islands, was shipped from Java in 1871 to the extent of 2101 peculs
(282,133 lb.); and from Padang in Sumatra (excluding shipments to Java)
to the amount of 457 peculs (60,933 lb.).[1878] The spice is exported
principally to Holland, Singapore, and the United States; Great Britain
receives about 60,000 to 80,000 lb. annually.
=Uses=—Mace is but rarely employed in medicine. It is chiefly consumed
as a condiment.
[1876] See my paper: _Ueber Stärke und Cellulose in Archiv der Pharm._
196 (1871) 31.—F. A. F.
[1877] In an actual experiment (1868) in the laboratory of Messrs.
Herrings & Co., London, 23 lb. of mace yielded 23 oz. of volatile
oil, which is equivalent to 6¼ per cent.; but Messrs. Schimmel & Co.,
Leipzig, obligingly inform us (1878) that they observed a percentage of
from 11 to 17.
[1878] _Consular Reports_, August 1873. 952-3.