it is separated from the shell of the nutmeg, and dried in the
sun. It is brought over in flakes of a yellow color, smooth and
net-like, as you see it in the shops. Its taste is warm, bitterish,
and rather pungent; its smell, aromatic. It is used both in food and
medicine, as the nutmeg, and also yields an oil.

_Pungent_, of a hot, biting taste.

What is Pimento or Allspice?

The dried unripe berry or fruit of a tree growing in great abundance
in Jamaica, particularly on the northern side of that island, on hilly
spots, near the coast; it is also a native of both Indies. The Pimento
Tree is a West Indian species of Myrtle; it grows to the height of
twenty or thirty feet; the leaves are all of a deep, shining green,
and the blossom consists of numerous branches of small, white,
aromatic flowers, which render its appearance very striking; there is
scarcely in the vegetable world any tree more beautiful than a young
Pimento about the month of July, when it is in full bloom.

When is the time to gather the spice?

About the month of September, not long after the blossoms are fallen,
the berries are gathered by the hand; one laborer on the tree,
employed in gathering the small branches, will give employment to
three below (who are generally women and children) in picking the
berries. They are then spread out thinly, and exposed to the sun at
its rising and setting for some days; when they begin to dry, they are
frequently winnowed, and laid on cloths to preserve them better from
rain and dew; by this management they become wrinkled, and change from
green to a deep reddish brown color. Great quantities are annually
imported.

What are its uses?

It forms a pleasant addition to flavor food; it also yields an
agreeable essential oil, and is accounted the best and mildest of
common spices.

_Essential_, pure; extracted so as to contain all the
virtues of the spice in a very small compass.

Why is it called Allspice?

Because it has been supposed to combine the flavor of cloves, nutmegs,
and cinnamon; the French call it _round clove_, from its round shape,
and the taste being somewhat like that spice.

What is Pepper?

The product of a creeping shrub, growing in several parts of the East
Indies, Asia, and America.

In what manner does Pepper grow, and what part of the shrub is used?

Pepper is the fruit of this shrub, and grows in bunches or clusters,
at first green; as it ripens it