642 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



classical languages, and especially Greek, to make the literature easy 

 reading. But further, the recurring to the study of ancient authors, 

 by busy professional men in the present day, is an event of such ex- 

 treme rarity that it can not be taken into account in any question of 

 public policy. The second remark is, that the half -knowledge of the 

 ordinary graduate is a link between the total blank of the outer world 

 and the thorough knowledge of the accomplished classic. I am not 

 much struck by the force of this argument. I think that the classical 

 scholar might, by expositions, commentaries, and translations, address 

 the outer world equally well, without the intervening mass of imper- 

 fect scholars. Lastly, the Canon puts in a claim for his own cloth. 

 The knowledge of Greek paves the way for serious men to enter the 

 ministry in middle life. Argument would be thrown away upon any 

 one that could for a moment entertain this as a sufficient reason for 

 compelling every graduate in arts to study Greek. The observation 

 that I would make upon it has a wider bearing. Middle life is not too 

 late for learning any language that we suddenly discover to be a want ; 

 the stimulus of necessity or of strong interest and the wider compass 

 of general knowledge compensate for the diminution of verbal mem- 

 ory. Contemporary Review. 



THE VANILLA-PLANT.* 



By J. POISSON, 



ASSISTANT NATURALIST IN THE PAKIS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



OF all orchids the vanilla is the one most widely known ; its fruit 

 is deservedly esteemed and is an important article of commerce. 

 Its valuable properties long ago brought the vanilla into notice. 

 The fruit appears to have been first introduced into Europe in the 

 beginning of the sixteenth century. The living plant was imported 

 into England, toward the end of the eighteenth century, by Miller ; 

 but we can not with certainty determine which one of the few species 

 of vanilla now known was then introduced. Linne, however, gave 

 the name Epidendrum vanilla to the plant which had come into his 

 hands, and which is supposed to have been identical with that brought 

 by Miller. Several years later Swartz, on attentively studying the 

 flower of the vanilla, observed notable differences between it and the 

 flower of the genus Epidendrum ; he was thus led to constitute a 

 new genus, and Epidendrum vanilla now became Vanilla aromatica. 

 Later Greville brought from America some cuttings of a vanilla differ- 

 ing from Vanilla aromatica, especially in the size of the leaves ; to 

 this Andrews gave the name Vanilla planifolia. This plant was 



* Translated from " La Nature " by J. Fitzgerald, A. M. 



