Piper Nigrum

This twining shrub yields the pepper of commerce.

It is cultivated in the East and West Indies, Java, etc., the

Malabar being held in the highest esteem. The fruit when ripe is

of a red color, but it is gathered before being fully ripe and

dried in the sun, when it becomes black and shriveled. White

pepper is the same fruit with the skin removed. When analyzed,

pepper is found to contain a hot acrid resin and a volatile oil,

as well as a crystalline substance called _piperin_, which has

been recommended as a substitute for quinine.