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Materia Medica,

Part II.

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Piper.Willd. g. 74.

Diandric/, Trigynia __Nat. ord. Piperitce.

Sp. 1. Pipek nigrum, hond. Ed. Dub.BJack pepper.

Off.— The berry.

Fr.uc.tus tiperis NIGRI. Ed.

Piper nigrum. Dub.

PlPERIS NIGRI BACCJE. Loild.

The black pepper is the fruit of a shrubby creeping plant,which grows wild in the East Indies, and is cultivated, withmuch advantage to the fruit, in Java and Malabar. The ber-ries are gathered before they are ripe, and are dried in thesun. They become black and corritgated on the surface;their taste is hot and fiery, and their smell slightly aromatic.

Neumann goi from 7680 parts 1800 watery, and afterwards180 alcoholic extract; and inversely, 1080 alcoholic, and 3640watery. The principle on which the pungency depends, wassoluble both in water and in alcohol, and was not volatile, for7680 grains furnished about '50 of a very bland volatile oil.From this analysis Dr Thomson's differs remarkably. Bymacerating pepper in alcohol, and distilling the tincture, hegot a green volatile oil, having the whole flavour and pun-gency of the pepper. Besides this essential principle, he foundto contain an extractive and starch.

White pepper is the fruit of the same plant, gathered afterit is fully ripe, and freed of its external coat by maceration inwater. It is smooth on the surface, and less pungent thanthe black pepper.

It is singula! - , that the Sumatrans, who eat such vast quan-tities of Cayenne pepper, never mix black pepper with theirfood. They esteem the latter heating, and ascribe a contraryeffect to the former; and Mr Marsden, from experience, agreeswith them.

Sp. 12. P;PER LONGUM.

Long pepper.q/T.—The fruit.

PlPERIS LONGI FRUCTUS.

Piper longum. Dub.

Lond. Ed. Dub.

Ed. Lond.

The plant which bears the long pepper is also a sarmentace-ous climber. The berries are small round grains, disposedspirally in a long cylindrical head. They are gathered be-fore they are ripe, and dried, and are the hottest of all thepeppers.

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