the basis of tabasco sauce. It is grown mainly in the tropics, and was
used there as a condiment before the landing of Columbus, who took
specimens back to Europe. Cayenne pepper contains 25 per cent of oil,
about 7 per cent of ash, and a liberal amount of starch. The adulterants
are usually of a starchy nature, as rice or corn meal, and the product
is often colored with some red dye.

207. Mustard.--Mustard is the seed of the mustard plant, and is most
often found in commerce in the ground form. The black or brown mustard
has a very small seed and the most aroma. White mustard is much larger
and is frequently used unground. For the ground mustard, only the
interior of the seed is used, the husk being removed in the bolting.
Mustard contains a large amount of oil, part of which is usually
expressed before grinding, and this is the form in which spice grinders
buy it. In mustard flour there is: ash from 4 to 6 per cent, volatile
oil from 0.5 to 2 per cent, fixed oil from 15 to 25 per cent, crude
fiber from 2 to 5 per cent, albuminoids from 35 to 45 per cent, and a
little starch. The principal adulterants are wheat, corn, and rice
flour. When these are used, the product is frequently colored with
turmeric, a harmless vegetable coloring material.

208. Ginger.--Ginger is the rhizome or root of a reed-like plant
(_Zingiber officinale_), native in tropical Asia, chiefly India. It is
cultivated in nearly all tropical countries. When unground it usually
occurs in two forms: dried with the epidermis, or with the epidermis
removed, when it is called scraped ginger. Very frequently a coating of
chalk is given, as a protection against the drug store beetle. Jamaica
ginger is the best and most expensive. Cochin, scraped, African, and
Calcutta ginger range in price in the order given. Ginger contains from
3.6 to 7.5 per cent of ash, from 1.5 to 3 per cent of volatile oil, and
from 3 to 5.5 per cent of fixed oil. There is a large amount of starch.
The chief adulterants are rice, wheat, and potato starch, mustard hulls,
exhausted ginger from ginger-ale and extract factories, sawdust and
ground peanut-shells, and turmeric is frequently used for coloring the
product. The United States standard for ginger is not more than 42 per
cent starch, 8 per cent fiber, and 6 per cent total ash.[71]

209. Cinnamon and Cassia.--The bark of several species of plants
growing in tropical countries furnishes these spices. True cinnamon is a
native o