Capsicum

“ The remarkable success which has attended the use of Cayenne pepper as a substitute for alcohol with hard drinkers, and as a valuable drug in delirium tremens, has lately led physicians to regard the Capsicum as a highly useful, stimulating, and restorative medicine. For an intemperate person, who really desires to wean himself from taking spirituous liquors, and yet feels to need a substitute at first, a mixture of tincture of Capsicum with tincture of orange peel and water will answer very effectually, the doses being reduced in strength and frequency from day to day. ”

“ The plants belonging to the genus Capsicum have flowers which are very much like those of the Tomato, and which have similar anthers; but the fruit differs in being a dry, inflated, hollow berry, inclosing numerous seeds, and in both the seeds and their cover having a fiery biting heat to the taste. There are several species with fruit of greater or less size, and different colours ”

“ The red chilli, which invariably forms part of mixed pickles, is the pod of the capsicum, and chilli vinegar is made by infusing capsicum pods in vinegar until some of their pungency and strength is extracted. From the same source comes cayenne pepper, obtained from the pods and the seeds, which are well dried and pounded until they are reduced to a fine powder. Capsicums owe their stimulating power to an active principle called capscin, and when used in moderation produce no injurious effects. ”

“ Dragendorff states (1871) that petroleum ether is the best solvent for the alkaloid of capsicum; he obtained crystals of its hydrochlorate, the aqueous solution of which was precipitated by most of the usual tests, but not by tannic acid.
The colouring matter of capsicum fruits is sparingly soluble in alcohol, but readily in chloroform. After evaporation, an intensely red soft mass is obtained, which is not much altered by potash; it turns first blue, then black with concentrated sulphuric acid, like many other yellow colouring substances. ”

“ General Capsicum was very pleasant with the burra beebee, a fine stately old dame, with a turban of bird of paradise plumes, and with whom, I afterwards learned he had actually walked a minuet in the year of grace 1770. Mrs. Capsicum, surrounded by a group of military men and young writers, was endeavouring to reduce her large mouth to the smallest possible dimensions—mincing the kings English, and “talking conversation” “mighty illigant” to the whole ring, in whose countenances a certain mock gravity indicated pretty evidently what they thought of her. ”

“ There are many varieties of capsicum, the most noted being the capsicum annuum, cultivated in the East Indies, in Mexico and southern parts of the United States, and from which cayenne pepper is made; and the capsicum frutescens, the Guinea or bird pepper, a much smaller pod and which, dried whole, is most often used in cookery. Chilis are used in enormous quantities by natives of hot countries, a paradoxical custom it appears to be, and the hottest, most “peppery” dishes known have originated where the sunbeam is nearest vertical. ”

“ It is most esteemed as a condiment, being aromatic and appetizing, and not so acrid or biting as is most cayenne. Paprika, commercial name for the mild, sweet varieties of capsicum, chiefly grown in Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Jamaica, Japan and Zanzibar.
Japanese pepper is the fruit of Xanthoxylum, an entirely different genus of plants to the capsicum family. The fruit capsules when bruised are agreeably pungent and aromatic. It is much esteemed as a condiment in China and Japan. ”

“ There are perhaps no remedies which receive greater mutual benefit be intermixture with each other, than the individuals which compose this class; for they not only thus acquire increased force and efficacy, but at the same time they lose much of their acrimony; if, for instance, any one spice, as the dried capsule of the Capsicum, be taken into the stomach, it will excite a sense of heat and pain ”

“ This plant is a native both of the East and West Indies, and is considered the most hardy of the whole tribe of capsicum. In many parts of the South of Europe, its fruit is eaten green by the peasants at their breakfasts, and is preferred by them to onions or garlic. The fruit of all the species may be rendered useful in domestic economy, either as a pickle, or as cayenne pepper. For the latter, it may be dried before a fire, and ground to powder in a common pepper-mill. ”

“ A Capsicum ointment, or "Chili paste," scarcely ever fails to relieve chronic rheumatism when rubbed in [81] topically for ten minutes at a time with a gloved hand; and an application afterwards of dry heat will increase the redness and warmth, which persist for some while, and are renewed by walking. This ointment, or paste, is made of the Oleo-resin—Capsicin—half-an-ounce, and Lanolin five ounces, the unguent being melted, and, after adding the Capsicin, letting them be stirred together until cold. ”

“ The Capsicum, or Bird Pepper, or Guinea Pepper, is a native of tropical countries; but it has been cultivated throughout Great Britain as a stove plant for so many years (since the time of Gerard, 1636) as to have become practically indigenous. Moreover, its fruit-pods are so highly useful, whether as a condiment, or as a medicine, [79] no apology is needed for including it among serviceable Herbal Simples. The Cayenne pepper of our tables is the powdered fruit of Bird Pepper, a variety of the Capsicum plant, and belonging likewise to the order of Solanums ”

“ The cultivation recommended for Capsicum will suit the Egg Plant, but little atmospheric moisture is needed or the seedlings may damp off. They are not well adapted for planting out, although in a warm season they will fruit freely under a sunny wall, and will grow in a gravel walk if helped at first with a little good soil round the roots. If required in quantity for the table, the purple variety may be grown in a frame from plants raised on a hot-bed. Generally speaking, a few plants in pots are all that are required where the fruit is not valued as an esculent. ”

“ It is to be understood, that Allum and boiling Vinegar will strike a green colour to any unripe Fruit; but care must be taken that too much Allum be not used, left the stomach be offended by it. It is a custom in some places to pickle the green Pods of Capsicum Indicum with their Cucumbers, which will contribute to make them much hotter or warmer to the Stomach, and promote Digestion in cold Constitutions. But the Capsicums should be boiled in Water gently, and wiped dry, before you put them among the Cucumbers, where they must be placed before the Pickle is poured upon them. ”

“ Capsicum (q.v.) is widely cultivated forits fruit, which are the so-called chillies. Solatium contains 900 species, among which are S. tuberosum (potato; q.v.) , S. Lycopersicum (tomato;q.v.) , and the two British species already mentioned. For Mandragora see (Mandrake. To the tribe Datureae, characterized by a 4-celled ovary, belongs Datura; D. Stramonium (thorn apple) , sometimes found as an escape in Britain, is officinal. ”

“ Its acridity is owing to an oleaginous substance called capsicine, and this extremely pungent principle produces a most painful burning in the mouth. Capsicum or chillies is generally imported in bales of 130 pounds each and occasionally is bottled in vinegar when green or ripe. In the large factories a special mill is usually reserved for powdering Cayenne exclusively, instead of burr-stone mills with the ordinary shaking sifter. A high-speed iron plate mill is often used, and in connection with this a large revolving reel is required for sifting the spice as it is ground. ”

“ The spice is largely consumed by the Chinese.
Bombay imported of dried chillies in the year 1872-3, 5567 cwt. (623,504 lb.) principally from the Madras Presidency, and exported 3323 cwt. [1669]
Uses—Capsicum on account of its pungent properties is often administered as a local stimulant in the form of gargle, and occasionally as a liniment; and internally to promote digestion. In all warm countries it is much employed as a condiment.
RADIX BELLADONNÆ. Belladonna Root; F. Racine de Belladone; G. Belladonnawurzel. ”

“ One ought not to close one’s list of garden or farm productions without adding the names of a few so-called spices, or flavour-producing plants, which are always in steady demand and flourish well in the valley of the Nile. Among these are the capsicum, the green and the red, which are most easy of culture, and come to maturity rapidly with the same treatment as is accorded to the tomato. ”

“ The administration of capsicum is valuable in atony of the stomach due to chronic alcoholism, its hot stimulating effect not only increasing the appetite but to a certain degree satisfying the craving for alcohol. It is also useful in the flatulency of the aged, where it prevents the development of gas, and has a marked effect on anorexia. ”

“ The capsicum needs a dry, warm soil, with exposure to the sun. Plants should stand two feet apart each way; as they are slow growers, they should be started in an early hotbed. Many will ripen during summer, and may be gathered. In the fall, when frost comes, the vines will be covered with blossoms and with peppers of all sizes. Fall-grown green ones, strung on a thread, and hung in a warm, dry room, will ripen finely. They are very hardy, and may be transplanted without injury. Hen-manure is best for them. [Pg 348]
PEPPERGRASS.
This is a variety of cress, of quick growth, used as lettuce. ”

“ Indian Capsicum, superlatively hot and burning, is yet by the Africans eaten with Salt and Vinegar by it self, as an usual Condiment; but wou'd be of dangerous consequence with us; being so much more of an acrimonious and terribly biting quality, which by Art and Mixture is notwithstanding render'd not only safe, but very agreeable in our Sallet. ”

“ III. The adulterants used are mineral coloring matter to hide the loss of color, which takes place on exposure of Cayenne to light, and for added weight ground rice, tumeric, husk of mustard, etc. Rice and corn flour adulterations are shown in Fig. 45, which cannot be confused with the few starch grains found in the lower layer of the pericarp or in the seed. The tumeric and mustard are recognized by their peculiar structure.
The chemical composition of capsicum is (1) a fixed oil without sharp smell or taste and which is almost entirely in the seed ”

“ Capsicum, 1 part; rhubarb, 2 parts (both in powder) ; treacle, q. s.; mix, and divide into 31⁄2-gr. pills—Dose, 1 to 3, an hour before dinner, to create an appetite and promote digestion.
2. (Radius.) Powdered capsicum, 20 gr.; extract of gentian, 1 dr.; powdered gentian, q. s. to form a mass. For 60 pills.—Dose, 2 to 4 pills, thrice daily; in chronic dyspepsia, especially in the loss of tone of the stomach arising from intemperance.
Pills of Carbolic Acid. Syn. Pilulæ acidi carbolici. Prep. Carbolic acid, 3 drops; soap powder, ·60 gram; lycopodium, ·06 gram; powdered tragacanth, q. s. ”

“ It is a powder prepared from several varieties of the Capsicum, annual East India plants, of which there are three so far naturalized in this country as to be able to grow in the open air; these are extremely pungent to the taste, and in the green state are used by us as a pickle. When ripe, they are ground into cayenne pepper, and sold as a condiment. The best cayenne, however, is made in the West Indies from the Bird pepper, so named because of the partiality of hens and turkeys to the berry. It is imported ready for use. Of the Capsicum species of plants there are five ”

“ The late sort is usually sown in the month of March, and planted out for a succession to the first crop.
421. CAPERS. Capparis spinosa.—This is the flower-pod before it opens of the above shrub, and is only kept as an ornamental plant here. I am induced to notice this plant, as I have known some things used in mistake for capers that are dangerous. I once saw an instance of this, in the seed-vessels of the Euphorbia Lathyris (which is a poisonous plant) being pickled by an ignorant person.
422. CAPSICUM. Capsicum annuum.—Cayenne pepper is made from a small variety of this plant. ”

“ Zanzibar capsicums or chilies, are dirty looking, of a brownish-red color and very hot. A variety from Japan are bright red, not so pungent as the other growths, but of finer aroma.
C. ceresiforme, the fruit is spherical, sub-cordate, oblate or occasionally pointed. The flesh is firm, from 1-12 to 1⁄2 in. thick, and very pungent; from the shape of its fruit it is called the cherry capsicum, or pepper.
C. grossum, originally from India, grows 2 ft. high, with a few branches and large leaves 3 to 5 in. long, the fruit is large, oblong or ovate, and is known as bell pepper ”

“ Some sorts are exceedingly ornamental for greenhouse decoration in winter, if plants are well grown in rather small pots, and the fruit ripened under glass. The varieties producing small pods are the hottest, and consequently best suited for making Cayenne Pepper. These are generally called Chilies. All other varieties of Capsicum have a more or less pungent flavour, and those bearing larger pods are more profitable for use in a green state. The fruits of all are either red or yellow when ripe, and are of various sizes and shapes. ”

“ Owing to its oleaginous character it has been found impossible to preserve it by drying, but by pouring strong boiling vinegar on it a sauce or decoction can be made which will possess in a concentrated form all the essential qualities of the vegetable, a single drop being enough to flavor a whole plate of soup or food.
The chilli plant is the Lat-tsiao of Cochin Chinese. It is constantly found in its wild state in the eastern islands. These varieties are enumerated by botanists; their fruits differ in degrees of pungency. All capsicum is a low grade of Cayenne. ”