MACIS.
Mace; F. Macis; G. Macis, Muskatblüthe.
Botanical Origin—Myristica fragrans Houttuyn ([see p. 502]). The seed which, deprived of its hard outer shell or testa, is known as the nutmeg, is enclosed when fresh in a fleshy net-like envelope, somewhat resembling the husk of a filbert. This organ, which is united, though not very closely, at the base of the stony shell both with the hilum and the contiguous portion of the raphe, of which parts it is an expansion, is termed arillus,[1875] and when separated and dried constitutes the mace of the shops. In the fresh state it is fleshy, and of a beautiful crimson; it envelopes the seed completely only at the base, afterwards dividing itself into broad flat lobes; which branch into narrower strips overlapping one another towards the summit.
History—Included in that of the nutmeg ([see preceding article]).
Description—The mace, separated from the seed by hand, is dried in the sun, thereby losing its brilliant red hue and acquiring an orange-brown colour. It has a dull fatty lustre, exudes oil when pressed with the nail, and is horny, brittle, and translucent. Steeped in water it swells rather considerably. The entire arillus, compressed and crumpled by packing, is about 1¾ inches long with a general thickness of about ¹/₂₀ of an inch or even at ⅒ the base. Mace has an agreeable aromatic smell nearly resembling that of nutmeg, and a pungent, spicy, rather acrid taste.
Microscopic Structure—The uniform, small-celled, angular parenchyme is interrupted by numerous brown oil-cells of larger size. The inner part of the tissue contains also thin brown vascular bundles. The cells of the epidermis on either side are colourless, thick-walled, longitudinally extended, and covered with a peculiar cuticle of broad, flat, riband-like cells, which cannot however be removed as a continuous film. The parenchyme is loaded with small granules, to which a red colour is imparted by Millon’s test (solution of mercurous nitrate) and an orange hue by iodine. The granules consequently consist of albuminous matter, and starch is altogether wanting.
Chemical Composition—The nature of the chemical constituents of mace may be inferred from the following experiments performed by one of us:—17 grammes of finely powdered mace were entirely exhausted by boiling ether, and the latter allowed to evaporate. It left behind 5·57 grm., which after drying at 100° C. were diminished to 4·17. The difference, 1·40 grammes, answers to the amount of essential oil, of which consequently 8·2 per cent. had been present.
The residue, amounting to 24·5 per cent., was a thickish aromatic balsam, in which we have not been able to ascertain the presence of fat; it consisted of resin and semi-resinified essential oil. Alcohol further removed 1·4 per cent. of an uncrystallizable sugar, which reduced cupric oxide.
The drug having been thus treated with ether and with alcohol, yielded almost nothing to cold water, but by means of boiling water 1·8 per cent. of a mucilage was obtained, which turned blue by addition of iodine, or reddish violet if previously dried. This substance is not soluble in an ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide; it appears rather to be an intermediate body between mucilage and starch.[1876] The composition of mace is therefore very different from that of nutmeg.
As to the volatile oil, of which several observers have obtained from 7 to 9 per cent.,[1877] it is a fragrant colourless liquid which we found, when examined in a column 200 mm. long, deviated the ray 18°·8 to the right. Its greater portion consists according to Schacht (1862) of Macene, C₁₀H₁₆, boiling at 160° C., and distinguished from oil of turpentine by not forming a crystalline hydrate when mixed with alcohol and nitric acid. Koller (1865) states that macene is identical with the hydrocarbon of oil of nutmeg (myristicene), yet the latter is said by Cloëz to yield no solid compound when treated with hydrochloric gas. Macene on the other hand furnishes crystals of C₁₀H₁₆·HCl. Crude oil of mace contains, like that of nutmeg, an oxygenated oil, the properties of which have not yet been investigated.