THE COFFEE MOTH— CACAO— VANILLA. 



567 



attached his thread to the same spot, then drew it forward and fastened it exactly on a 

 line with the last, with a precision and rapidity that machinery could hardly imitate. 

 It is a curious question how far this perfection of workmanship in many of the lower 

 animals is simply identical with their organization, and therefore to be considered as a 

 function as inevitable in its action as digestion or respiration, rather than as an instinct. 

 In this case the body of the little animal was his measure. It was amazing to see him 

 lay down his threads with such accuracy, till one remembered that he could not make 

 them longer or shorter; for, starting from the center of his house, and stretching his 

 body to its full length, they must always reach the same point. The same is true of 

 the so-called ' mathematics ' of the bee. The bees stand as close as they can together 

 in their hive, for the economy of space ; and each one deposits his wax around him, 

 his own form and size being the mould for the cells, the regularity of which when 

 completed excites so much wonder and admiration. The ' mathematical ' secret of the 

 bee is to be found in his structure, not in his instinct. But in the industrial work of 

 some of the lower animals — the ant, for instance, — there is a power of adaptation 

 which is not susceptible of the same explanation. Their social organization, too intelli- 

 gent, it seems, to be the work of any reasoning powers of their own, yet does not 

 appear to be directly connected with their structure. While we were watching our 

 little insect, a breath stirred the leaf, and he instantly contracted himself and drew 

 back under his roof; but presently came out again and returned to his work.'* 



" Theobroma," — food for gods, — the Greek name given by Linnaeus to the Cacao 

 or Chocolate tree, sufficiently proves how highly he valued the flavor of its seeds. 

 Indigenous in Mexico, it had long been in extensive cultivation before the arrival of 

 the Spaniards, who found the beverage which the Indians prepared from its beans so 

 agreeable, that they reckoned it among the most pleasing fruits of their conquest. 

 From Mexico they transplanted it into their other dependencies, so that in America its 

 present range of cultivation extends from 20° North latitude to Gruayaquil and Bahia. 

 It has even been introduced into Africa and Asia, in return for the many useful trees 

 that have been imported from the old into the new world. 



The cacao-tree seldom rises above the height of twenty feet, its leaves are large, 

 oblong, and pointed. The flowers, which are of a pale red color, spring from the large 

 branches, and even from the trunk and roots. The fruits are large, oval, pointed pods, 

 about five or six inches long, and containing in five compartments from twenty to forty 

 seeds — the well-known cacao of commerce — enveloped in a white, pithy substance. 



The trees are raised from seed, generally in places screened from the wind. As 

 they are incapable of bearing the scorching rays of the sun, particularly when young, 

 bananas, maize, manioc, and other broad-leaved plants are sown between their rows, 

 under whose shade they enjoy the damp and sultry heat which is indispensable to their 

 growth, for the Theohroma Cacao is essentially tropical, and requires a warmer 

 climate than the coffee-tree or the sugar-cane. Two years after having been sown, the 

 plant attains a height of three feet, and sends forth many branches, of which, however, 

 but four or five are allowed to remain. The first fruits appear in the third year, but 

 the tree does not come into full bearing before it is six or seven years old, and from 

 that time forward it continues to yield abundant crops of beans during more than 

 twenty years. At first the tender plants must be carefully protected from weeds and 



