THE VANILLA-PLANT. 



6 43 



brought first to England, thence to the Museum at Paris in 1810, and 

 lastly to Belgium ; it is the species whose fruit possesses the strong- 

 est perfume. 



The vanilla throve in greenhouses, hut as it was sensitive to cold, 

 and did not fructify, and its flowers possessed no ornamental interest, 

 its culture was very limited. For a long time the only fruits which 

 came to Europe were from Mexico, or the Gulf of Mexico the only 

 points where the plant was cultivated on a large scale, and where its 

 fructification appeared to be insured. It remained for later experi- 

 menters to add to the interest attaching to this plant, while at the same 

 time, in some degree, augmenting the resources of the colonies. 



At this time the impression made by certain recent researches on 

 fecundation in plants was still fresh, and the questions of hybridation 

 and crossing were closely studied. 



It has ever since been believed that the fecundation of the vanilla 

 in Mexico and the neighboring countries, where that plant fructifies 

 normally, was brought about by the 

 agency of certain insects which hith- 

 erto do not appear ever to have been 

 observed performing this function. 

 The hypothesis is almost equivalent 

 to a certaintv, now that we know the 

 habits of the Orchidece, especially as 

 regards reproduction. 



The right of priority in discovering 

 the artificial fecundation of the vanilla 

 has been claimed for many countries. 

 It belongs to England, say those who 

 dwell on the other side of the Chan- 

 nel ; but, if we are to believe the Bel- 

 gians, the true discoverer was Charles 

 Morren. Nevertheless it appears in- 

 disputable that Neumann, head-gar- 

 dener at the Paris Museum of Natural 



History, was the first to obtain the results of this fructification in 1830. 

 From a single stock Neumann produced, in that year, over two hun- 

 dred vanilla fruits of excellent quality. 



M. Delteil, pharmacist in the navy, in his interesting study of the 

 vanilla ("Etude sur la Vanille," 1874), gives a list of the works which 

 have been published concerning this plant, and treats of its culture in 

 Reunion Island particularly. He states that in 1839 Perrottet, on his 

 second voyage to Bourbon, made known to some of his friends among 

 the planters the process adopted by Neumann ; for, though the vanilla 

 was cultivated as a curiosity, it did not bear fruit there any more than 

 in Europe. Nothing appears to have come out of this suggestion ; but 

 the case was different with the discovery made about the same time 



Vanilla planlfolia. 



