Cubebs

Cubebs, a name originating in Arab medicine for the dried fruits of species of Cubeba, a genus allied to the peppers, especially of C. officinalis, a woody climber in Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. The fruits are globose, 1/5 inch in diameter, greyish or black, and wrinkled, and grow in spikes of 40 or 50. They are agreeably aromatic, pungent, and slightly bitter, yielding 15 per cent. of a volatile oil containing a camphor, a characteristic alkaloid, cubebin, and an acid, cubebic. Britain imports about 60 tons annually via Singapore. The drug is employed to arrest excessive mucous urethral discharge.