\'.\MLL.\ AKoMAlK A. 



^"^^ -^AXILLA is so iiuini;iu-l\ coniicctcil with the manufacture 

 \ i)t Chocolatt*. that our treatise is hardly c<»mj)Iet<- without 



» some allusion to it in tlils place. 



The name is derived iiMm X'aynilla. which, in Spanish, 

 sii^nifies a little knife, or scissors (•;is<- jukI In this cr uinciflt »n refers 

 to the shape of the pod. 



Its natural h.ihiiat is the- mountainous parts of jira/il. It is 

 now cultivated in lari^e quantities in other parts of the tropical 

 world, the principal sources of supply heiniL,^ the I'Vench Colony 

 of Reunion, Mauritius, and Seychelles, Mourhon. the West Indies, 

 Java. Japan, and Madai^ascar, and within the jkisI few years 

 Ceylon and India. Me.xico. whence the principal supj)ly used 

 to llow. has almost ceastrd to i^row X'anilla. owini^^ to the 

 comparatively low prices now obtained f«»r it. 



There are many species of this lovely and frai^ranl j)lant, 

 which !)eloni;s to the j^^inera of Orchidaceous plants ; hut they 

 differ in some resjK-cts from orchitis j^cnendly, as the stem will 

 l^row to the heij^hl of from twenty to thirty feel. In climhinjj 

 u|) the trees, the r(M)tlets which they juit forth as holdfasts arc 

 cajxihle of absorbing nutriment for the plant wheii other mmh s ..f 

 supply arc cut off. 



