CARAWAY, the fruit, or so-called seed, of Carum carui, an umbelliferous plant growing throughout the northern and central parts of Europe and Asia. The plant has finely-cut leaves and compound umbels, and fruits laterally compressed and ovate,—the mericarps being subcylindrical, slightly arched, and marked with five distinct pale ridges. Caraways evolve a pleasant aromatic odour when bruised, and they have an agreeable spicy taste. They yield from 3 to 6 per cent, of a volatile oil, which is a compound of carvol (a mobile liquid isomeric with the menthol of spearmint) and carvene. The plant is cultivated in the northern parts of Norway, in Finland, Russia, Germany, Holland, and in Marocco, as well as in the south of England, the produce of more northerly latitudes being richer in essential oil than that grown in southern regions. The essential oil is largely obtained by distillation for use in medicine as an aromatic stimulant and carminative, and as a flavouring material in cookery and in liqueurs for drinking. Caraways are, however, more extensively consumed entire in certain kinds of cheese, cakes, and bread, and they form the basis of a popular article of confectionery known as caraway comfits.