GIN′GER

Syn. Ginger root ; Zingiber is radix , Zingiber (B. P.), L. “The scraped and dried rhizome” (rootstock or underground stem) of “ Zingiber of ficin ale ”—(B. P.). Ginger is an aromatic stimulant and stomachic, very useful in flatulence and spasms of the stomach and bowels, and in lo of appetite and dyspepsia, arising from debility, or occurring in old or gouty subjects. A piece chewed an hour before dinner tends to provoke the appetite; as a masticatory, it often relieves toothache, relaxation of the uvula, tender gums, and paralytic affections of the tongue. Made into a paste with warm water, and spread on paper, it forms a useful and simple ‘headache-plaster,’ which frequently gives relief when applied to the forehead or temples. As a condiment and flavouring ingredient, it is perhaps one of the most wholesome of the aromatic kinds, and is le acrid than the peppers.— Dose , 10 gr. to 1 ⁄ 2 teaspoonful, stirred up in any simple liquid. Pur., . The best is that known in commerce as ‘ unbleached Jamaica ginger ,’ which is an uncoated pale variety, occurring in large, bold, fleshy pieces (‘ RACES ’), which cut soft, bright, and pale-coloured. The inferior varieties occur in smaller pieces, and are darker-coloured, flinty, and shrivelled. The dealers frequently ‘dre up’ the common dark-coloured gingers by washing them in water, drying them, and then ‘rouncing’ them in a bag with a little calcined whiting or magnesia ( WASHED GINGER ); or they bleach them by dipping them into a solution of chloride of lime, or by exposing them to the fumes of burning sulphur ( BLEACHED GINGER ); or they dip them into a milk formed of quicklime or whiting and water ( WHITE-WASHED GINGER ). The last has a chalk-white surface, which cannot be mistaken for the natural one. Powdered ginger is with difficulty obtained pure and good. The common adulterants are wheat-flour, or East Indian arrow-root, and plantain-meal. The first may be detected by the microscope, the others by the flavour and action of hot water. See Lozenges , .