Pi'per. 1

The peppers, a genus of the Piperaceae. They contain an acrid resin, an aromatic volatile oil, and a crystallizable principle, piper in, chiefly present in the root and fruit. 2. Of the U. S. Ph., the unripe fruit of P. nigrum. Black peppers are berrylike fruits having an aromatic smell and a hot, pungent taste. They contain piper in, a resin, an e ential oil isomeric with oil of turpentine, gum, starch, lignin, etc. Black pepper is carminative and stimulant, but is used chiefly as a condiment, confectio piper is. A mixture of black pepper, caraway fruit, and clarified honey [Br. Ph.]. oleoresin a piper is. A preparation made by extracting black pepper with acetone and evaporating off the acetone [U. S. Ph.]. P. cubeb a. A shrub indigenous to Java, Borneo, Sumatra, and parts of the East Indies; the source of cubeb. P. decortlcatum. White pepper. P. longum. 1. A shrub indigenous to Malabar, Ceylon, eastern Bengal, Timor, and the Philippines, and cultivated in India for its fruits (see 2d def.). 2. The unripe fruit of P. of ficin arum and of P. longum (1st def.); long pepper, the peperi makron of the ancients. It is rarely used medicinally, except in veterinary practice. P. lowong. A Java species with fruits closely resembling true cubebs. P. met hist i cum, P. methysticum. The ava or kava of the South Sea Islands. P. nigrum. Black pepper (plant). See P. (2d def.). P. of ficin arum. Long pepper. [Lat., piper, pepper.]