Pepper
Pepper names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Pepper a climbing shrub native to India
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a climbing shrub native to India. The pungent berry is used as a spice. Pepper is now cultivated quite generally in tropical countries. It is propagated by cuttings and comes into full bearing in about four years. The bright red berries are about the size of peas. When the bunches of berries begin to ripen they are gathered like grapes and laid in the sun to dry. The wrinkled dried berries, winnowed free from dust and bits of stems, are the black pepper of commerce. White pepper is obtained by freeing the dried berries from an outer covering. Cayenne or red pepper is the peppery pod of another plant entirely. The cultivation of the pepper plant does not differ particularly from that of the grape vine. It will climb, if permitted, to a height of twenty feet, but it bears best if kept down to a height of ten or twelve feet. Suckers and side shoots are pruned, and the vines are pruned as in grape culture. Two crops a year are gathered. Ten pounds of green pepper produce four pounds of dry. Singapore is the chief pepper market of the world. The United States is the most liberal buyer--20,000,000 pounds a year. Pepper is used not only to season cookery, but it is employed by the packers extensively as a preservative in curing meats. See Spice
Pepper the dried immature fruit or berry of P
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the dried immature fruit or berry of P. nigrum, used as a condiment, whole or ground. White pepper is the berry deprived of its outer husk. It is imported into this country chiefly from Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and Borneo, and is named after the locality from which derived; thus, Penang, Malabar, Sumatra, Trang, etc. The ground peppers of commerce are generally mixtures of different kinds of berries; e. g., Malabar is used to give weight, Penang or Trang to give strength, and Sumatra to give color. Long pepper (P. longum), which belongs to the same natural order, and contains almost the same constituents, must be considered a true pepper, though of less value commercially.
Pepper WILLIAM, an American physician and university president
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
WILLIAM, an American physician and university president; born He was educated at University of Pennsylvania, and took up the practice of medicine in the city of Philadelphia, where he became connected with several large hospitals. In 1868 he became professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and from 1881 of the University. to 1894 was provost He devoted much time and attention to the medical school, which, under his direction, took a front rank among the leading medical schools in the United States. He died in 1898.
Pepper GEORGE WHARTON, a Philadelphia lawyer and church authority
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GEORGE WHARTON, a Philadelphia lawyer and church authority. Born in Philadelphia in 1867, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in the class of '87. For a few years he practiced law, and then in 1893, became profes professor rofessor of law at the 1895, University of Pennsylvania. In addition to his legal studies he has taken a great interest in the law and polity of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He is the author of a number of works on ecclesiastical and legal matters.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 that "Singapore is the chief pepper market of the world" and Collier's in 1921 listed Java, Sumatra and Malacca as the sources, the trade's centre of gravity sat in the East Indies; today Vietnam, which grew almost no pepper commercially before the 1980s, is by a wide margin the largest producer and exporter, with Brazil, Indonesia and India following. Aiton's claim that packers used pepper "extensively as a preservative in curing meats" reflects an old belief that has not survived: pepper is valued for flavour, and modern curing relies on salt, nitrites and refrigeration. The two men named Pepper are both settled matters now — William Pepper, Penn's reforming provost, had died in 1898 — but Collier's caught George Wharton Pepper just before his moment: he was appointed to the United States Senate for Pennsylvania in 1922, served until 1927, and died in 1961.
Written for this edition, 2026.