342 Transactions.— Botany. 



the vanilla as for preparing and assorting it for sale. The 

 presence of the givre, or " frost," is regarded as the test of the 

 best pods. The "frost" consists of needle-shaped crystals, 

 which begin to form at the ends, and gradually spread in a 

 white powder over the whole pod. This efflorescence is com- 

 posed of the substance known as "vanillin," and to it the 

 peculiar fragrance of the pods is due. Vanillin is, however,, 

 not confined to the orchid from which it derives its name. 

 Considerable quantities of it have been extracted from Siam 

 benzoin and raw sugar, from the sapwood of fir trees, from the 

 oil of cloves, and, of all sources, from assafoetida ! Ices 

 flavoured with vanilla have not infrequently been found to be 

 poisonous. It is, nevertheless, affirmed that the vanilla has 

 no evil effect on the human system, as much as 15gr. 

 having been sv>'allowed without the patient suffering. On the 

 contrary, it is an aromatic stimulant, exhilarating the mental 

 powers and increasing greatly the energy of the animal system. 

 It is depressing to think that, just when this fragrant orchid 

 looks like becoming one of the good angels of the tropics, the 

 German chemists are manufacturing vanilla artificially, though, 

 happily, they are i:iot likely ever to produce the exquisite bal- 

 sam of the i-ipe pods, which is so seldom to be met with in 

 Europe. 



In fine, seeing that the vanilla was, at last, successfully 

 cultivated in the hothouses in Liege and in other places in 

 Europe, and is also become a new and an increasing article of 

 commerce from our Polynesian neighbours — Fiji, Tahiti, and 

 the Sandwich Islands — such may also, in years to come, be- 

 raised here in our Colony of New Zealand, at the more 

 northern parts, and under glass. Temims revelat. 



3. Of the 'EtT>'E,'LV^Eiii8=Leontopodium alpimim, Cass., and its 

 two New Zealand relations. 

 For my third plant I must take you to the Alps, to the 

 mountains of Europe, particularly to those of Switzerland 

 and Austria ; and also to those nearer us — the Alps of the 

 South Island, and our ov/n Ruahine. From the small, very 

 local, and peculiar herbaceous plants of the Swiss mountains 

 I select the famed edelweiss {Lcontopodium alplnum, Cass.), 

 and this for at least three reasons : — 



1. Because it is also considered to be a great and valuable 

 rarity, and has become of late years an increasing article of 

 commerce, so that laws have been obliged to be made by the- 

 Swiss and by the Austrian Governments, to prevent their httle 

 plant of world-wide celebrity becoming extinct. 



2. Because the Swiss mountain flora is very peculiar, pos- 

 sessing more than 120 alpine plants not found anywhere else ; 

 these are believed to be involuntary migrants from the arctic- 



