There are many kinds of wild or inferior nutmegs, such as: American Jamaica, or calabash nutmeg (M. monodora), of the custard-apple family, bearing a large pulpy fruit containing aromatic seeds. Brazilian nutmeg (cryptocarya moschata) a tree of the laurel family, producing nutmegs of an inferior quality. The nut is longer than the true species and is sold under the name of long nutmeg. California nutmeg, a tree of the pine family, called also stinking nutmeg or stinking yew, from the disagreeable odor of the leaves and wood when bruised and burned, and yielding a fruit resembling true nutmegs. Clove nutmeg, a Madagascar tree of the laurel family, the fruit a pungent kernel resembling the true nutmeg and used as a spice. Peruvian nutmeg, a large tree of the monimiad family, yielding an aromatic fruit. From Borneo a wild, soapy nutmeg and mace (M. fatua) are often palmed off as the true kinds. There is also the Sante Fe nutmeg (Motoba) from Columbia, S. A., and Ackaway nutmeg, a spice grown in Guiana, the fruit of Acrodiclidum camard. Another species, the M. sebefira, is a common tree in the forests of Guiana, north Brazil, and up into Panama. It is utilized principally for the oil extracted from the nuts, obtained by macerating them in water, the oil rising to the surface, and as it cools skimmed off. Ackawi nutmegs, used mainly as a cure for diarrahoea and colic. All these, while resembling somewhat the true nutmegs and sometimes foisted on dealers, are of very little real value. Mace When the mace, a bright-red membraneous substance, is removed from the nut it is pressed flat between blocks of wood and left to dry until it has acquired the right color. The preparation of mace for the market requires experience rather than technical knowledge. If packed too green it is liable to mold, and is subject to attacks from insects, which render it valueless in commerce. On the other hand, if it becomes too dry it loses its vitality and also crumbles into powder when packed. Packers frequently sprinkle the mace with salt water, which makes it more pliable and at the same time prevents attacks from insects. [Illustration] We may here state that nutmegs are divided into two varieties: The green, which are long and in which the mace only partially covers the nut; is darker in color and inferior in flavor and aroma; and the Royal, which furnishes the finest and best mace, firm, thick, flexible and oily, and entirely envelopes the nut. As with the nutmeg, mace is sometimes deprived of its essential oil, and mixed with wild mace or other flavorless matter. Myristica Malabarica, known under the name of Bombay mace, used to adulterate the true powdered mace, is much larger and more cylindrical than the arillus of the true nutmeg and has several flaps united at the apex, forming a conical structure.