Eugenia aromatica,

(Linne) Kuntze.

The dried flower-buds, with not more than 5 p. c. of peduncles, stems, foreign matter.

Habitat. Molucca (Spice or Clove) Islands, five in number, N. E. of Celebes, now mostly abandoned there, but cultivated in Indian Ocean islands, Amboyna group, Sumatra, Malacca, Penang, etc., S. America, Brazil, Guiana, Cayenne, Africa, Zanzibar, West Indies.

Syn. Caryoph., Cloves, Mother Cloves, Caryphylli Aromatica; Br. Caryo-phyllum; Fr. Girofle, Clou (aromatiques) de Girofle; Ger. Caryophylli, Gewurz-nelken, Nagelein.

Eu-ge'ni-a. L. fr. Gr.

well, +

born - noble birth - i. e., in honor of

Prince Eugene of Savoy, a great patron of botany (died 1736).

Ar-o-mat'i-ca. L. aromaticus, fragrant - i. e., its aromatic, fragrant odor.

Car-y-o-phyl'lus. L. fr. Gr.

a nut, +

a leaf - i. e., referring to theappearance of flower buds.

Clove. L. clavus, a nail - i. e., the resemblance of its dried flowers.

Plant. - Handsome evergreen tree, 9-12 M. (30-40°) high, much branched, forming a pyramidal crown; bark yellowish; leaves 10 Cm. (4') long, 5 Cm. (2') wide, entire, smooth, glandular, parallel veins to midrib, petiolate; flowers 15-20, rose-color, cymes; fruit berry-like. Flower-buds (clove), tack-shaped, 10-17.5 Mm. (2/5-3/4) long, dark brown, consisting of a stem-like, solid, inferior ovary, obscurely

4-angled, terminated by 4 calyx teeth, and surmounted by a nearly globular head, consisting of 4 petals enclosing numerous curved stamens and 1 style; odor strongly aromatic; taste pungent, aromatic, followed by slight numbness; pressed strongly between thumb-nail and finger - volatile oil visible; should not float horizontally on water; steins, separate or attached, sub-cylindrical, 4-angled, 25 Mm. (1') long, 4 Mm. (1/6') thick, simple, branched, jointed, less aromatic than flower-buds. Powder, dark brown; microscopically - cellular fragments with large oil reservoirs, spiral tracheae, few fusiform bast-fibres, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, many tetrahedral pollen grains; presence of stems show stone cells of large lumina with yellowish-brown substance; volatile extractive soluble in ether 10 p. c. Solvents: alcohol (volatile oil, resin); water (odor - part of volatile oil but none of the pungent resin). Dose, gr. 5-10 (.3-6 Gm.).

Fig. 275. - Eugenia aromatica.

Fig. 276. - Caryophyllus: a, natural size; b, longitudinal section magnified.

Adulterations. - Flower-buds: Clove-stalks, 2 Mm. (1/12') thick, brown, contain volatile oil 4-5 p. c, for which they are imported; mother clove (clove fruit, anthophylli) collected just before ripe, 2.5 Cm. (1') long, resemble clove, but thicker, lighter, weaker, with 4-lobed calyx, each cell 1-2-seeded, contain volatile oil 2-4 p. c; exhausted clove, such as have undergone partial or complete exhaustion and distillation; pimenta, different shape and aroma; Powder: All of the above - detected chiefly by peculiar starch grains and weakness of the preparations; cassia; ginger; sand; starch; flour; pepper shells. Oil: That from which eugenol has been abstracted or foreign eugenol added; clove-stem oil, alcohol, oils of turpentine, cinnamon, pimenta and copaiba, petroleum, fixed oils, phenol.

Commercial. - Trees yield when 6 years old, reach perfection at 12, and thence decline until, at 20, they perish. Clove (flowers, buds) at first are white, then green, pink, and bright red, being collected at the pink stage by hand-picking on ladders and platforms, or by beating the trees with bamboos and catching the falling buds upon outspread cloths, after which they are dried by sun or slowly by fire. Each tree yields 5 pounds (2.3 Kg.), which are disposed of at 10 cents per pound (.5 Kg.). Clove was unknown to the ancients, having been brought to Europe by the Arabians and Venetians, while the Portuguese and Dutch long monopolized the trade. Now mostly from Zanzibar, the finest from Penang, some from Pemba, or via Bombay; however, much of our supply from W. Indies, Cayenne, Guiana, etc. There are three varieties: 1, Molucca (Amboyna), thickest, heaviest, darkest, most oily and aromatic; two annual harvests, June, Dec, in the Moluccas; 2, Sumatra (Bencoolen), considered by some of equal high grade as the preceding; 3, S. American, usually not so fine, but the freshest contain volatile oil 10-15 p. c.

Clove(s) that are light (floating horizontally on water), small, soft, wrinkled, of pale color, feeble taste and smell, often without corolla bud or "head," are inferior from having been treated with a menstruum or careless picking (including immature green and red buds) and drying (which should be done quickly and without exposure to bad weather), and should not be used direct or in obtaining the oil.

Constituents. - Volatile oil 18 p. c, eugenol, caryophyllin, tannin 10-13 p. c, resin (tasteless) 6 p. c, gum 13 p. c, vanillin, green wax, cellulose 28 p. c, water 18 p. c, ash 4-8 p. c. (of which .5 p. c. is insoluble in hydrochloric acid).

Oleum Caryophylli. Oil of Clove, official. - (Syn., 01. Caryoph., Clove Oil, Oil of Cloves; Fr. Essence de Girofle; Ger. Oleum Caryo-phyllorum, Nelkenol, Eugenol.) This volatile oil distilled from the flower-buds (clove) with water or steam, and usually 3 p. c. of sodium chloride, to raise the ebullition-point possibly to 109.5° C; (229° F.), is a colorless, pale yellow liquid, darker and thicker by age and exposure, characteristic odor and taste of clove, soluble in 2 vols. of 70 p. c, alcohol, laevorotatory, sp. gr. 1.038-1.060; contains at least 82 (80-90) p. c. of eugenol, C10H12O2 (heavy portion - phenol), caryophyllene, C15H24 (light portion, polymeric with terpene, C10H16, sp. gr. 0.918 - sesquiterpene), also 2-3 p. c. of eugenol acetate; methyl-amylketone (gives odor), vanillin, furfurol (causes oil to darken), methyl alcohol. Tests: 1. Shake oil (1) with hot distilled water (20) - shows only slight acid reaction; filtrate with few drops of ferric chloride T. S. - transient grayish-green color, but not blue or violet (abs. of phenol). Should be kept cool, dark, in well-stoppered, amber-colored bottles. Dose, ej-5 (.06-.3 Ml. (Cc.)).

Eugenol. Eugenol, C10H12O2, official. - (Syn., Eugenolum, Eugenin, Caryophyllic Acid, Eugenic Acid, Allylguaiacol, Ethylmethyl-pyrocate-chol, Para-oxy-metamethoxyallyl benzol.) This unsaturated, aromatic phenol (found also in oils of bay, canella, camphor, cinnamon (Ceylon), sassafras, pimento, Massoi bark) is obtained by shaking oil of clove with excess of 5-10 p. c. solution of sodium hydroxide in a separator, drawing off resulting solution of eugenol sodium, washing aqueous liquid with ether, decomposing with diluted sulphuric acid, washing separated eugenol with sodium carbonate solution (to remove adhering acid), distilling with steam or in vacuo. It is a colorless, pale yellow, thin liquid, strongly aromatic odor of clove; pungent, spicy taste; darker and thicker on exposure to air; miscible with alcohol, chloroform, ether, fixed oils, soluble in 2 volumes of 70 p. c. alcohol; mixed with hot distilled water (1 in 20) very slightly acid, sp. gr. 1.067, boils at 253° C. (488° F.); optically inactive and strongly refractive. Tests: 1. Dissolve 1 Ml. (Cc.) in sodium hydroxide T. S. (12), add distilled water (18) - clear solution, turbid on exposure to air; 5 Ml. (Cc.) of cold, clear filtrate, + a drop of ferric chloride T. S. - transient, grayish-green, not blue or violet (abs. of phenol); upon eugenol alone the value of oil of clove depends. Should be kept cool, dark, in well-closed containers. Dose, ej-5 (.06-.3 Ml. (Cc.)).

Caryophyllin, C10H16O. - Obtained by treating ethereal extract of clove with water, filtering and treating the resulting precipitate with ammonia to purify; occurs in tasteless, inodorous silky needles, soluble in ether, slowly in alcohol, colored red with sulphuric acid, and by oxidation with nitric acid yields crystals of caryophyllinic acid, C20H32O6.

Preparations. - 1. Tinctura Lavanduloe Composita, 1/2 p. c. 2. Tinctura Rhei Aromatica, 4 p. c.

Unoff. Preps.: Infusum Caryophylli (Br.), 2.5 p. c, dose, ℥ss-l (15-30 Ml. (Cc.)). Rubefacient Spice Powder, 30 p. c, Saigon cinnamon 30, Jamaica ginger 20, capsicum 20. Tincture, 25 p. c. (Fr. alcoholic), dose, 3ss-l (2-4 Ml. (Cc.)).

Properties. - Stimulant, stomachic, carminative, antiemetic, aromatic, antispasmodic, rubefacient, germicide, antiseptic. Increases circulation, temperature, digestion, nutrition; excreted by kidneys, skin, liver, bronchial mucous membrane, stimulating and disinfecting these emunctories.

Uses. - Nausea, vomiting, flatulence, colic, indigestion, condiment, corrective; externally in rheumatism, neuralgia, toothache (oil + oil of peppermint + hydrated chloral), in liniments, etc.

Allied Plant: