Oleum Pimentae. Oil of Pimenta, official.

Pirnenta officinalis, Lindlay. (Pimenta Pimenta, (Linne Lyons.)

A volatile oil, distilled from the fruit.

Habitat. C. and S. America, W. Indies, Jamaica, Venezuela; cultivated.

Syn. Allspice, Pimento or Clove (Jamaica) Pepper, Semen or Fructus Amomi, Piper Jamaicense; 01. Piment., Pimento Oil, Oil of Allspice; Fr. Piment de la Jamaique, Toute epice, Essence de Piment de la Jamaique; Ger. Nelkenpfeffer, Englisches Gewurz, Neugewurz; Pimentol Nelkenpfefferol.

Pi-men'ta. L. fr. Sp. pimienta, pepper - i. e., first European name for Allspice; L. pigmentum, spice.

Of-fi-ci-na'lis. L. see etymology of (Asagraea) officinalis, page 102.

All' spice - all +spice - i. e., supposed to combine cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove odor - at one time all of the important spices.

Plant. - Handsome evergreen tree 9-12 M. (30-40°) high, slender trunk, bark smooth, gray; young branches quadrangular; leaves 10-15 Cm. (4-6') long, bright green, entire, oval-oblong, obtuse, pellucid-punctate beneath, midrib prominent; flowers small, white, racemes. Fruit, 5-7 Mm. (1/5-1/4') thick, subglobular, crowned with short, 4-parted calyx and short style, or their remnants, dark brown, pericarp brittle, 1 Mm. (1/25') thick, glandular-punctate, 2-celled, each cell 1-seeded; seed reddish-brown, plano-convex, slightly reniform; odor and taste peculiarly, agreeably aromatic; pericarp and embryo contain oil-cells, the embryo also starch grains. Solvents: alcohol extracts the virtues; water absorbs the flavor, and if hot, some constituents. Dose, gr. 5-30 (.3-2 Gm.).

Adulterations. - Fruit : Rare - colored with ochre, ferric oxide, spice bush berries; Powder: Bean and pea meal, mustard shells; Oil: Phenol, oil of turpentine, etc.

Commercial. - Forests are cleared of all other trees, leaving only the allspice, which bear when 3-4 years old. The fruit (drupe) if allowed to ripen fully becomes purplish-black, fleshy, sweet, and devoid of aromatic properties, consequently it is collected when full-grown, yet green - the small twigs bearing the bunches or clusters being broken off and dried in ovens (kiln-dried allspice), or in the sun 10-12 days, which, in spite of yielding a better product, is attended with risk, since they must be housed at night and at other times protected from damp and rainy weather.

Constituents. - Volatile oil 3-4 p. c, resin, fixed oil 6-8 p. c, tannin, sugar, gum, ash 4 p. c.

Oleum Pimentae. Oil of Pimenta. - This volatile oil distilled from the fruit (with water or steam), yielding not less than 65 p. c, by volume, of eugenol, comes over in two fractions mixed together, one light, the other heavy; it is a colorless, yellow or reddish liquid, darker with age, characteristic odor and taste of allspice, soluble (clear) in equal volume of 90 p. c. alcohol, in 2 vols. of 70 p. c. alcohol, sp. gr. 1.033, laevoro-

Fig. 277. - Pimenta officinalis (Pimenta).

tatory; contains at least 65 p. c. of eugenol, C10H12O2, probably a sesquiterpene. Should be kept cool, dark, in well-stoppered, amber-colored bottles. Dose, ej-5 (.0(5-3 Ml. (Cc.)).

Preparations. - (Unoff.): Aqua Pimentoe, 25 Gm. + water 1,000 Ml. (Cc.) - distil 500 ML (Cc.). Infusion, 5 p. c, dose, ℥j-2 (30-60 Ml. (Cc.)).

Properties. - Similar to clove; stomachic, stimulant, carminative, condiment, improves digestion, increases salivary secretion.

Uses. - Flatulence, nausea, intestinal colic, corrective to griping purgatives and nauseous tasted medicines; may combine with Burgundy pitch or lead plaster for rheumatism, neuralgia, chilblains, etc., causing local warmth, smarting, redness.

The dried, nearly ripe fruit, official 1820-1910.

Allied Plant:

1. Myr'Cia (Pimenta) Ac'Ris, Bayberry

Myr'Cia (Pimenta) Ac'Ris, Bayberry. The volatile oil, official 1880-1900; W. Indies, Jamaica; cultivated. Tree beautiful, fragrant, 9-12 M. (30-40°) high, leaves 5-8 Cm. (2-3') long, ovate, coriaceous, pellucid-punctate, exhaling aroma when bruised similar to clove (volatile oil), flowers small, white with red tinge, fruit globular berry, size of a pea, blackish, resembling allspice; contains (leaves) volatile oil, tannin. Oil obtained by distilling leaves with water or steam; it is an aromatic (clove-like), yellowish, pungent liquid, containing eugenol, chavicol, myrcene, phellandrene, citral, etc. Astringent, tonic, stimulant, perfume; nervous headache, faintness, chafing, hair-washes, perfumery; Spiritus Myricae Compositus - bay rum, may be made by mixing oil of myrcia 8 Ml. (Cc), oil of orange .5, oil of pimenta .5, alcohol 610, water q. s. 1,000 Ml. (Cc), or better grades by distilling leaves with St. Croix rum.