The Penang nutmeg, the fruit of the myristica fragrans, called by the Hindustanee and Bengalee jaiphal, or true nutmeg, as its name implies, which is the finest, is of a brown color and shaped like a damson plum. It is furrowed on the interior and grayish inside, with veins of red running through it, and possesses a fine, delicate aroma of great strength and flavor. The Penang nutmegs are not to be found in the spice-mill stock because the poorer Batavia or the wild Macassars will grind better, their worm holes will not show in the meal, and they are not difficult to powder. Liming nutmegs by the Dutch to prevent their sprouting has lead to misunderstanding and many vices. Some think limed nutmegs the best, taking them in preference to the fine, brown Penang, and are willing to pay higher prices for them. Such buyers seem to know nothing about the convincing, easy tests that may be made by weighing, the pure nutmegs being heavier on account of the oil they contain, and by scraping the nut with the finger nail to note if the oil starts. Although there are only four kinds of nutmegs known to the trade there are more than twenty-five (many give as many as forty) different varieties. Those known to commerce, when found in the order of their quality, are as follows: The Penang, of which there were exported in 1904, 2,828 piculs, valued at $175,592, which are unlimed and are brown; second, Dutch limed or Batavians; third, Singapore, which are a rougher, unlimed, narrower kind, and of somewhat less value than the Dutch Batavia; fourth,[4] “long” or “wild” or “male nutmeg,” nux myristicamas, Clusius (nux maschata fructo oblongo C. bouchin), which is the product of myristica fatua. In addition to these, we have the Malabar, found in the district of Malabar, province of Madras, British India, which is the product of myristica Malabarica. It resembles a date in size and shape, and is closely allied to the long nutmeg, but has less flavor. It is called by the Hindustanee and Bengalee jaiphal, and those of myristica Malabarica, “ran jaiphal,” and “ramphal,” and in the native Malabar dialect, “panam palka,” and is largely used as an adulterant for powdered true nutmeg. ----- Footnote 4: J. C. Sawyer’s Odorographia, Second Series. [Illustration: HARBOR OF MACASSAR, CELEBES ISLANDS] [Illustration: A FOREST]