NUTMEG.CLOVE.

is a perennial shrub, which grows about a yard high. Its propagation is effected by parting the roots in the spring, planting them in pots of light earth, and placing them in a hot bed of tanner's bark, where they remain. The different kinds of ginger found in the shops appear to be the same root differently dried, or otherwise prepared; the roots which are white, soft, and woolly, are in general less pungent than the more solid and compact kinds. Ginger is much employed as a condiment, and as a medicine. It is considered as a useful stimulant in dyspepsy, gout, and other complaints, requiring exciting medicines. Ginger is sometimes brought to this country preserved in syrup. It is also used as a plaster, wet with French brandy, to be laid upon the stomach, in cases of great pain, or to check excessive vomiting in cholera; and often subserves an excellent purpose.

NUTMEG is the product of a tree, which resembles the cherry tree in growth and size, and is a native of the Molucca Islands, from which except Banda, by the policy of the Dutch it has been nearly extirpated : Banda, now supplying with mace and nutmegs, the whole of Europe. The flowers which are inodorous, are present at the same time with the fruit, and male and female are on the same, and on separate trees. Nutmegs are enclosed in four different covers. The first a thick husk, like that of our walnuts. Under this lies a thin reddish coat, of an agreeable smell, and aromatic taste, called mace. This wraps up the shell, and opens in proportion as the pod grows. The shell, which makes the third cover, is hard, thin and blackish; under this is a greenish film, of no use; and in this is found the nutmeg, which is properly the kernel of the fruit. The nutmeg tree yields three crops annually; the first, which is the best, in April; the second in August, and the third in December. The fruit requires nine months to ripen; when gathered, the outer covering is first stripped off, and then the mace carefully separated and dried; the nutmegs in the shell are next exposed to heat, and smoke for three months, then broken, and the kernels thrown into a strong mixture of lime and water; after which, they are cleaned and packed up. This process is said to be necessary for their preservation, and with the same intention, the mace is sprinkled with salt

water.

The

The CLOVE is obtained from a tree, somewhat in the form of a nail; whence the term clove, from the French clove, a nail. The clove tree was anciently very common in the Molucca islands; at present, cloves are chiefly obtained from Amboyna, the Dutch having from their cupidity, dug up the trees in the other islands. It is now, however, cultivated in the isles of France, at Cayenne, and in the island of Dominica, in the West Indies. The tree is very large; its bark resembles that of the olive tree, and its leaves those of the laurel, its fruit falling, takes root without any culture, and eight years after bears fruit. clove is the unexpanded flower. At Amboyna, they are collected from October to December, when they begin to redden. They require to be dried quickly; on which account, they are first immersed in boiling water and then exposed to smoke and heat; the drying is afterwards finished in the sun. Although the unopened flowers, and even the leaves, are extremely aromatic, the real fruit, which is a coriaceous berry, is not so. Cloves are hot, stimulating aromatics, which affect the breath, eyes, and head, and are useful in palsies, &c. There is an oil drawn

PEPPER.-CASSIA.-CINNAMON.-SALT.

from cloves by distillation; it is sometimes used as a remedy for the tooth-ache, but very improperly, since from its pungent quality, it is apt to corrode the gums and injure the adjacent teeth. When the tooth is carious and will admit of it, a bruised clove is much to be preferred. Much, however of the oil of cloves, which is sold, is said to be obtained from allspice.

PEPPER, or rather black pepper, is well known from its general use. It is the produce of a climbing plant, or vine, growing in several parts of the East Indies, chiefly Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and the coasts of Malabar. It is propagated in Sumatra, by cuttings, or suckers; in growing, it is supported by props. The plant is three years old before it bears fruit; it yields two crops annually, the first in December, the second in July. White pepper is the fruit of the same plant, perfectly ripe, and freed from its outer coat by means of a preparation of lime and mustard-oil, applied before it is dried.

The CAYENNE PEPPER, or bird pepper, brought from the West Indies, is very useful as a condiment, particularly with fish; and latterly it has been introduced into medicine in the shape of a tincture, which is a useful stimulant in dyspepsy, &c.

JAMAICA PEPPER, or pimenta, is the fruit of an evergreen tree, rising sometimes fifty feet in height. It grows plentifully in Jamaica and other American Íslands. It is aromatic, and may supply the place, both of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, whence it is called by the English, allspice. The essential oil of pimenta, contains the principal virtues of the berry; it is so much like oil of cloves, as to be often mistaken and sold for it.

CASSIA, or cassia cinnamon, is the bark of a species of bay tree, growing in Malabar, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java. It has many of the habits of the cinnamon tree, and is barked in the same manner. Cassia cinnamon is chiefly distinguishable from the true cinnamon, by being of a lighter color than that article; by being also thicker, by breaking shorter, and by having less bitterness in its taste, as well as very frequently when chewed becoming mucilaginous in the mouth; this last, however, is not an invariable accompaniment.

CINNAMON is the bark of a tree growing in abundance in the islands of Ceylon, and also in Malabar, Cochin China, Sumatra, and other East India islands. It is also now cultivated in the Brazils, the Mauritius, and Guiana. It seldom rises above thirty feet high. Ten varieties of this tree have been enumerated; of these, that called the sharp sweet cinnamon, is said to be the best. It is raised from the seed. The chief part of the cinnamon in this country, is brought from Ceylon. The principal difference between cinnamon and cassia consists in the former being thinner, and in more irregular masses, and also in its having much more astringency, and therefore in substance is preferable to cassia.

SALT, COMMON SALT, muriate of soda, or chloride of sodium, by the most correct and recent nomenclature, is a saline crystallization, used to season and give pungency to various kinds of food; as well as to preserve it on numerous occasions from putrefaction. Salt is obtained from three different sources, namely, the water of the sea, mines, where it exists in a solid form, called rock salt, and from saline springs. Rock

SALT.

salt is found in various places; at Nantwich in Cheshire, at Cracow in Poland, and in Hungary, Catalonia, in Africa, Asia, and in America, forming hills or very extensive beds above the surface.

Rock salt, it is said, was entirely unknown to the ancients. The Polish mines near Cracow, were discovered in 1251; their depth and capacity are surprising. Within them is found a kind of subterraneous republic, which has its polity, laws, families, &c.; even public roads, carriages and horses, for the conveyance of salt to the mouth of the quarry, where it is taken up by engines. These horses, when once down, never see the light again; but the men take frequent occasions of breathing the village air. When a traveller arrives at the bottom of this strange abyss where so many people are interred alive, and where so many are even born, and have never stirred out, he is surprised with a long series of lofty vaults, sustained by huge pilasters, cut out with chisels; and which, being themselves rock salt, appear by the lights of flambeaux, which are incessantly burning, as so many crystals or precious stones of various colors, casting a lustre which the eye can scarcely bear. One of the chief wonders of the place is, that through these mountains of salt, and along the middle of the mine, runs a rivulet of fresh water, sufficient to supply the inhabitants. As soon as the massive pieces are got out of the quarry, they break them into fragments fit for the mills, where they are reduced to a coarse powder, to be used as a culinary salt. There are four kinds, white, bay, red, and brilliant; the last is the sal gemma of the druggists, but not known in this country. All these become white when pulverized, though they appear of different colors in their natura!

state.

Salt is obtained from sea water by different methods. At Lymington, in Hampshire, England, the sea water is admitted into large reservoirs, where, being exposed to the air, a part of the water evaporates; the remaining liquor is then transferred to boilers, where the water is still further evaporated by artificial heat, and then set by to cool and crystallize. The water which remains after the crystallization of the salt, is called mother water. It contains, or is said to contain sulphate of magnesia, or as it is usually called, Epsom salt, a well known purgative salt; from this source it is, that most, if not all the Epsom salt found in the shops, is ob tained by mere evaporation. From the same is also obtained the common magnesia of the shops. This is what is publicly known of the method of obtaining Epsom salt, but it is believed that the manufacturers keep the real process a secret.

Besides the salt obtained from sea water, in various countries, much is obtained from the rock salt produced from mines, and a good deal is also produced from brine springs,

In the United States, salt is manufactured, but not very extensively, from sea water. Large quantities are made from brine springs. The principal springs are to be found in the state of New York, in the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Niagara, Genesee, Tompkins, Wayne, and Oneida. Those of Onondaga are the most valuable. In 1823, 606,463 bushels were manufactured in this latter county. In 1800, there were not less than 50,000 bushels manufactured. Forty-five gallons of water make a bushel of salt. At Nantucket, 350 gallons of sea water are required. The following approximated analysis of the

SALT.

water of a spring in New York, is given by Dr. Noyes, of Hamilton College. Forty gallons, 355 lbs., contain 56 lbs. of saline extract.

Pure Muriate of Soda,

Carb. Lime, colored by oxide of iron,
Sulp. of Lime,

Muriate of Lime,

and probably muriate magnesia and sulphate of soda.

The village of Salina and other neighboring places, are the chief places where salt is extensively manufactured. The mode of evaporation is different at different places-sometimes by boiling, and again by exposure to the atmosphere. "At Salina, the mode adopted," says the Northern Traveller, "is that of boiling; and a brief description will convey a clear idea of the process. Each building contains sixteen or eighteen large iron kettles, which are placed in two rows, forming what is called a block.' They stand about three feet higher than the floor; and under them is a large furnace, which is heated with pine wood, and requires constant attention, to keep the water always boiling. The water is drawn from a large reservoir, at one end of the building, after having been allowed to stand awhile, and deposit the impurities it has brought along with it. A hollow log, with a pump at one end, and furnished with openings against the kettles, is the only machine used in filling them. The first deposite made by the water, after the boiling commences, is a compound of several substances, and is thrown away, under the name of Bittern;' but the pure white salt which soon after makes its appearance, is carefully removed, and placed in a store room, just at hand, ready for barreling and the market.

"Each manufactory yields about forty bushels a day, and the different buildings cost about half a million.

"There are two large manufactories here, where salt is made in reservoirs of an immense size, and evaporated by hot air passing through them in large pipes. The reservoir of the principal one contains no less than 40,000 gallons. The pipe is supplied with heat by a furnace below, and the salt is formed in large loose masses, resembling half thawed ice. The crystallization, also, is different from that produced by the other modes, at least in secondary forms."

As a condiment, common salt is of all others the safest, best, and most extensively employed. It is used by all nations; and, indeed, in some shape or other, by almost all animals whatever. It seems in a peculiar manner designed to assist in the digestion and assimilation of our food. In the quantity in which it is usually taken, there is no reason to doubt that many of our aliments become thereby more wholesome and digestible, as well as more agreeable. Like the other condiments, however, in larger quantities it is injurious to the constitution. It occasions heat and thirst, and seems rather to impede than to assist digestion. Besides the usual culinary preparations, in which salt is advantageously employed, it is used also as an antisceptic, to preserve aliments from spontaneous decomposition, and particularly to prevent the putrefaction of animal food. In general, however, the large quantity of salt which is necessarily employed in this way, injures the alimentary properties of the meat; and the longer it has been preserved, the less wholesome and digestible does it become. It is this kind of food, salted flesh and fish,

MUSTARD.-KETCHUP.

which so surely occasions that disease called scurvy, amongst sailors and others who are deprived of fresher and more wholesome aliment. Meat, however, which has not been too long preserved, simply pickled, or corned meat, as it is called, is but little injured, or decomposed, is still succulent and tender, easily digested, nourishing, and wholesome enough.

Salted and hung meat, and therefore all sorts of hams, are more indigestible and less nutritive. Sparingly used with other food, they communicate, indeed, to it an agreeable relish, and prove a stimulus to the stomach, but their freer and more frequent use cannot be wholesome.

They require, in general, all the powers of the most robust stomachs. It is worthy of remark, in this place, that the fat of animals seems less injured, as an aliment, by salting than the lean parts. Bacon, therefore, though long preserved, is still a very nourishing aliment; though not easily digested.

MUSTARD. There are cultivated two species of this plant, the black, and the white; both annuals, and both natives of Great Britain.

The seed of the white mustard is celebrated for its medicinal virtues, being at once a tonic and an aperient; cleansing the stomach and bowels, and bracing the system at the same time. The following are the directions given by Loudon for its cultivation. For spring and summer consumption, sow once a week or fortnight, in dry, warm situations, in February and March, (of course later in the United States,) and afterwards in any other compartment. In summer, sow in shady borders, if it be hot, sunny weather; or have the beds shaded. Generally, sow in shallow, flat drills, from three to six inches apart; scatter the seeds thick and regular, and cover in thinly with the earth about a quarter of an inch.

Black mustard is a larger plant than the white, with much darker leaves, and their divisions blunter. It is cultivated chiefly in fields for the mill and for medicinal purposes. It is sometimes, however, sown in gardens, and the tender leaves used as greens, early in the spring.

To raise seed for flour of mustard, &c., sow either in March or April, in any open compartment; or make large sowings in fields, where designed for public supply. Sow moderately thick, either in drills, from six to twelve inches asunder, or broad-cast and rake or harrow in the seed. When the plants are two or three inches in the growth, hoe and thin them moderately, where too thick, and clear them from weeds. They will soon run up in stalks, and in July or August return a crop of seed ripe for gathering.

KETCHUP, is a sauce which derives its name, it is said, from a Japanese word, kit-jap. It is made, or ought to be made, from the juice of the mushroom. Wild mushrooms, from old pastures, are generally considered as more delicate in flavor, and more tender in flesh, than those raised in artificial beds.