Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CAYENNE PEPPER (GUINEA PEPPER, SPANIS...

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 589 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: CAU-CHA

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

See also:

CAYENNE

CAYENNE See also:
PEPPER
PEPPER, WILLIAM (1843–1898)
PEPPER (See also:
GUINEA
GUINEA PEPPER, See also:
SPANISH
SPANISH PEPPER, CHILLY) , a preparation from the dried See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of various See also:

SPECIES

species of See also:

CAPSICUM

Capsicum,a genus of the natural See also:

order See also:

SOLANACEAE

Solanaceae. The true peppers are members of a totally distinct order, Piperaceae. The fruits of See also:

PLANTS

plants of the genus Capsicum have all a strong, pungent flavour. The capsicums See also:

bear a greenish-See also:

white See also:

flower, with a See also:

STAR

star-shaped corolla and five anthers See also:

STANDING

standing up in the centre of the flower like a See also:

TUBE (Lat. tuba)

tube, through which projects the slender See also:

style. The pod-like fruit consists of an envelope at first fleshy and afterwards leathery, within which are the spongy pulp and several seeds. The plants are herbaceous or shrubby; the leaves are entire, and. alternate, or in pairs near one another; the See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers are solitary and do not arise in the See also:

LEAF (O. Eng. leaf, cf. Dutch loof, Ger. Laub, Swed. lof, &c.; possibly to be referred to the root seen in Gr. Ma-eta, to peel, strip)

leaf-axils. There are about See also:

THIRTY

thirty species, natives of Central and See also:

South See also:

AMERICA

America. They are now grown in various parts of the See also:

WORLD

world, both for the See also:

SAKE

sake of the fruit and for See also:

ORNAMENT (Lat. ornare, to adorn)

ornament. In See also:

England the See also:

ANNUAL

annual sorts are sown from See also:

March to the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of See also:

APRIL

April under a See also:

FRAME

frame. They can be planted out when 2 or 3 in. high, and in See also:

JUNE

June may be transferred to a See also:

LIGHT

light See also:

rich See also:

SOIL

soil in the open See also:

GARDEN (from O. Fr. garden, mod. Fr. jardin; this, like our words " garth," a paddock attached to a building, and " yard," comes from a Teutonic word for an enclosure which appears in Gothic as gards and O. H. Ger. gart, cf. Dutch gaarde and Ger. .garten)

garden. They flower in See also:

JULY

July or See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August, and produce pods from August till the end of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September. The perennial and shrubby kinds may be wintered in a conservatory.

Several species or varieties are used to make cayenne pepper. The annual or See also:

COMMON

common capsicum (C. annuum), the Guinea pepper plant, was brought to See also:

EUROPE

Europe by the Spaniards, and was grown in England in 1548. It is indigenous to South America, but is now cultivated in See also:

India, See also:

Hungary, See also:

Italy, See also:

Spain and See also:

TURKEY

Turkey, with the other species of capsicum. It is a See also:

hardy herbaceous plant, which attains a height of 2 or 3 ft. There are numerous cultivated forms, differing in the shape and See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of the pod, which varies from more or less roundish to narrow-conical, with a smooth or wrinkled coat, and white, yellow, red or See also:

black in colour. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal source of cayenne pepper is C. frutescens, the See also:

SPUR (A.S. spura, spora, related to spornan, spurnan, to kick, spurn; cf. M.H.G. sporn, mod. Ger. Sporn)

spur or See also:

GOAT (a common Teut. word; O. Eng. gat, Goth. gaits, Mod. Ger. Geiss, cognate with Lat. haedus, a kid)

goat pepper, a See also:

DWARF (A.S. dweorg, D. dwerg, Icel. dvergr)

dwarf See also:

SHRUB

shrub, a native of South America, but commonly cultivated in the See also:

East Indies. It produces a small, narrow, See also:

bright red pod, having very pungent properties. C. teiragonum, or See also:

bonnet pepper, is a species much esteemed in See also:

JAMAICA

Jamaica; it bears very fleshy fruits. Other well-known kinds of capsicum are the See also:

CHERRY

cherry pepper (C. cerasiforme), with small berries; See also:

bell pepper (C. grossum ), which has thick and pulpy fruit, well adapted for pickling; and See also:

berry or See also:

BIRD

bird pepper (C. baccatum). The last mentioned has been grown in England since 1731; its fruit is globular, and about the See also:

SIZE

size of a cherry. The See also:

West See also:

INDIAN

Indian stomachic See also:

man-dram is prepared by mashing a few pods of bird pepper and mixing them with sliced See also:

CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus, Fr. concombre, O. Fr. coucombre, whence the older English spelling and pronunciation " cowcumber," the standard in England up to the beginning of the 18th century)

cucumber and shallots, to which have been added a little See also:

lime-juice and See also:

Madeira See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine. Chillies,the dried ripe or unripe fruit of capsicums, especially C. annuum and C. frutescens, are used to make chilly-See also:

VINEGAR

vinegar, as well as for pickles.

Cayenne pepper is manufactured from the ripe fruits, which are dried, ground, mixed with See also:

wheat See also:

FLOUR

flour, and made into cakes with yeast; the cakes are baked till hard like See also:

BISCUIT (pronounced according to the old spelling " bisket," a Fr. form from Lat. bis, twice, and coctum, cooked, in reference to the original method of preparation; cf. Ital. biscotto, Sp. bizcocho, &c.)

biscuit, and then ground and sifted. The pepper is sometimes prepared by simply drying the pods and pounding them See also:

FINE

fine in a See also:

MORTAR

mortar. Cayenne pepper is occasionally adulterated with red See also:

lead, See also:

VERMILION

vermilion, ochre, See also:

salt, ground-See also:

rice and See also:

TURMERIC (from Fr. terre Write, turmeric, Lat. terra merita, deserved, i.e. excellent earth; Skeat suggests that it is a barbarous corruption, perhaps of Arabic karkam, kurkum, saffron or curcuma)

turmeric. The See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste of the pepper is impaired by exposure to See also:

DAMP

damp and the See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat of the See also:

sun. Chillies have been in use from See also:

time immemorial; they are eaten in See also:

GREAT

great quantity by the See also:

PEOPLE

people of See also:

GUIANA (Guyana, Guayana')

Guiana and other warm countries, and in Europe are largely consumed both as a spice and as See also:

MEDICINE

medicine. The dried ripe fruit of Capsicum frutescens from See also:

ZANZIBAR

Zanzibar, known as pod pepper and Guinea pepper, is See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official in the See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

PHARMACOPOEIA (lit. the art of the OapµaK07robbs, or drug-compounder)

Pharmacopoeia under the name Capsici Fructus. The fruit has a characteristic, pungent odour and an intensely See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter taste. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief constituents are a crystallizable See also:

RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin, capsaicin, a volatile See also:

ALKALOID

alkaloid, capsicine and a volatile oil. The dose is 1-1 See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain. The British Pharmacopoeia contains two preparations of capsicum, a See also:

TINCTURE (Fr. teinture, Lat. tinctura, tingere, to dye, stain)

tincture (dose 5-15 minims) and an ointment. Externally the See also:

drug has the usual See also:

ACTION

action of a volatile oil, being a very powerful See also:

COUNTER

counter-irritant. It does not, however, cause pustulation.

Its See also:

INTERNAL

internal action is also that of its class, but itsmarked contact properties make it specially useful in gastriatony and flatulence, and sometimes in See also:

HYSTERIA

hysteria.

End of Article: CAYENNE PEPPER (GUINEA PEPPER, SPANISH PEPPER, CHILLY)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CAYENNE

[next]
CAYEY