Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
February 16, 1818
Primary Source Reference:
Poulson's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 16 Feb 1818
Additional Source Text:
"Selected by Mr. William De Charms expressly for the Museum in the Island of Banda."
Notes:
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus Myristica.
William and Sarah (Mead) DeCharms immigrated from England to Philadelphia in 1793. William practiced medicine and Sarah kept a boardinghouse in Philadelphia that served members of the early U.S.Congress in that city.
The Banda Islands, part of what was historically known as the Spice Islands and now Indonesia, are a group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 1,200 miles east of Java. Until the mid-19th century, the Banda Islands was the only location of the production of nutmeg and mace in the world. (Wikipedia)
