There are several commercial varieties of pepper, as Malabar, Penang, Batavia, etc, differing considerable in quality.

The pungent taste of pepper is due to a resin and the odor is due to an ethereal oil. Besides these there is present an alkaloid known as piperin.

The chief use of pepper is that of a spice added principally to meats, but also to other food substances. Its use is, however, less now than it was during the latter part of the Middle Ages. So extensive was the dealing in pepper that the English grocers of the time were known as pepperers.

It was very liberally used with all meats, especially chopped or sausage meats. It was used as snuff or added to snuff tobacco to increase its effectiveness. It is still highly prized as an aid to digestion. Applied externally it is used as a counterirritant in skin diseases. Italian physicians recommend it highly in malarial diseases.

Description of Plate — A. flowering twig; 1. portion of spike; 2. ovary with stamens; 3. stamens; 4. young fruit; 5. 6. portions of spike (colors are wrong, 5 should be red and 6 should be green); 7-8. fruit.

— Albert Schneider.