MYRISTTCEJE 175
of sprinkling the mace with sea-water before putting it to dry seems to
have been discontinued; only in cases of mildew is it occasionally
washed with sea-water. It was claimed that this process kept the
mace in a more pliant condition.
" The nutmegs, after removal of the husk and mace, are dried in their
shells, as otherwise they run great risk of being attacked by beetles.
In the Banda Islands, where nutmegs are handled in large quantities,
it is usual to dry them over a charcoal fire in a drying-house. The
stands have four or five shelves arranged about 8 ft. from a slow char-
coal fire. The layers of seed spread on these are constantly turned and
eventually shaken on to the next lower shelf. Too much heat results
in shrivelled seed of less value. The drying takes from three to six
weeks, when the nutmeg rattles in its shell. In Malaya the seeds are
often merely dried by exposure to the sun in trays of basket-work.
Sometimes the seed is exported in the shell (e.g. from Minahassa and
Amboyna), but it is customary to remove the testa, which amounts to
About one-quarter of the weight of the seed, before packing for export.
The cracking of the shell is done with a wooden truncheon or hammer,
or by striking several seeds spread on a kind of drumhead with a flat
board. The seeds must be struck on end, otherwise oil-cells are rup-
tured, and a black bruise formed. The seeds are then sorted, the broken
nuts being first removed, then thin nuts, and finally the large sizes are
•separated from the medium. In Grenada the shelling is done by a
machine. This consists of a high, narrow box in which revolves a
wooden wheel whose rim forms a series of deep sockets. The nutmegs
are fed into the sockets, and the force with which they strike the bottom
•cracks the shell. The shelled seed is liable to attack by beetles, and in
the Moluccas it is still usual to dip nutmegs in milk-of-lime or sprinkle
them with powdered lime to protect them. In the Banda Island the
nutmegs are packed for about three months in wooden bins filled with
lime and water of the consistency of mortar. Tradition states that this
operation was intended by the Dutch to prevent the seed (which is
killed by the drying alone) from germinating. Mace is usually
packed in teak chests, containing about 280 lb., the mace being
trodden in. The graded nutmegs are packed in casks or in chests
which have been slightly smoked inside and coated with lime and
water."
The mace is detached from the seed with a knife, and is easily separ-
ated from it. When fresh it is of a brilliant red colour, tough and
leathery, and possessing a flavour recalling that of turpentine. It is
then dried in the sun.
Nutmegs are often imported limed, i.e. treated externally with lime,
with the object of preventing their germination and keeping them pro-
tected from insects. Although quite unnecessary, this practice is ap-
proved of in certain markets, so much so that Penang nutmegs, the
most valued in the London market, which are imported unlirned, are
frequently limed in London for re-exportation. The nutmegs of other
species are often used, both as nuts, mace, and oil, as a substituent or
adulteration of the ordinary product. Amongst these are the Bombay
nutmegs (from M. Malabarica) and New Guinea nutmegs (from M. Ar-
jgentea).
The mace from the Bombay nutmegs is sometimes used to adulter-
ate ordinary macs. It is of very faint flavour and of no pungency.