ALLSPICE, or JAMAICA PEPPER, is the unripe fruit of *Eugenia Pimenta* (Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae), dried in the sun. (See Botany.) It receives the name allspice, from its resemblance in flavour to a mixture of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The tree is a native of the West Indies, but is cultivated almost exclusively in Jamaica; thence the produce is called *Jamaica pepper*. It is formed into plantations, intersected with broad walks, known as *pimento walks*. The berries are gathered in an unripe state, when the essential oil which they contain is most abundant; they are then spread out, and dried by frequent turning in the sun, when their colour changes from green to a fine clove-brown. The flavour resides within the shell of the pimento, which is, when dried, about twice the size of a pepper-corn, and incloses two seeds. The consumption of allspice in the United Kingdom has very greatly increased during the past ten years. It is occasionally used in medicine, but chiefly as an article of cookery. It yields an essential oil, known as "oil of pimento," used in perfumery and confectionery. (See Oils.) The importations of pimento for 1857 amounted to 31,014 cwt., of which 4035 cwt. were entered for home consumption, yielding, at the rate of 5s. per cwt., a total duty of £1,009.