164 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. i, 1894. 
Grocers of London, wherein are handled such Prin- 
cipal Matters, >b followeth in the Table, before the 
Booke." The title-page is not dated, but the date 
1592 appears iu several places in the body of the 
work. A copy of this was one of a number of curious 
and rare old books presented last year to the Library 
of the lioyal Gardens, Kew, by Mr. Thomas HanUuy 
in memory of hia brother, the highly-esteemed and 
highly-endowed Daniel Banbury, who laboured so 
assidously and successfully iu elucidating the origin 
and sources of drugs and spices. The matter ami 
style of the book are equally quaint, and one wundeis 
how many grocers were concerned in its composition. 
They took up a very exalted moral position, and 
treated their subject as one of vital importance to 
' the stability and well-being of the community. The 
dedication may serve as a specimen of the whole : — 
"Because the cornplaintes of sundrye of die retay- 
ling grocers of Londo, to the cheefe ilticers the 
gardians, and to the first incline of that society, against 
the fact of bad garbelling of spices betvveene them 
and the Marchantes, hath in lieu of reformation 
taught manye indigneties . nd wrought som indigna- 
tion towards the coplainats. Therefore no conncell 
was better (that despaire of reu edie amongst thorn, 
could then conceiue or bring forth) then to flie lo 
your most godly vvisedorue for suche hel. 8 therein, 
as do bear an Analogic and proportion correspon- 
dent to the mischiefs and di eases in the fact of 
garbling. Or if that doo iaile to follow the saieng 
of the poet Museus, the vvl.ich is thus set f rth : 
" It is good somel ime to sound in open street 
The wicked works which men do tliiuk to hide," 
meaning that by the publishing <<( son e smaj | 
phlet touching the same, suche good may ensue, 
either the vvorkemanne to grow better or the buier 
to be more wiser, in the office cf garbling (a matter 
right Honorable and worshipfull, full of rashm 
to break open a discourse, vvhereinto a man maj 
more easilie enter, than hud the waie out again ). 
But since that aucthoritie and pov^er (vvioh \ \ 
by operation) to redresse these defectes, is as \e 
leste, only in them which are the aticthors of them, 
we mi-ane in the Garbeller and vvorkemen. Our 
wit is such (which ought to work with ccuncell 
and discretion) to allow and aduance this snial 
treatise vnder your Honors fauor and protection, the 
effect whereof is to shewe the abuses dooue in that 
office, with the right vse and motion thereof; 
wherein your vvisdomes and Honor may be pi ased, 
to excuse our boldnesse vnder this defense, that in 
great inconuencies, great Officers haue not despised 
the meanest voices. Then shall our duties to the 
commouwelth be out of dai-nger, and the same 
aduantaged by your wonted affection, to whatsoeutr 
concerneth common good, & by this our labour. 
In the which affection we beseech the (. reator of 
all thinges, to assist your Lordship and worships 
with his holy spirit, and to giue you the same for 
councel and conduc'ion in the seruice of hir Maiestie, 
this tittie, and to his glory and your posteritie for 
euer heerafter. 
"Grocers Hall in London. 
" Your most humble the Retailers 
Grocers, London." 
This is followed by an address "to the discreet 
and vertuous Beaders;" and the history, definition, 
abuses, &c, of garbling, together with the regulations, 
acts of common council, rates, &c, are sec forth in 
the same peculiar language. Then follows the oath 
of the " common garbeller," and the book concludes 
with a condensed summary, occupying less than three 
pages, of the foregoing consents. Fivm this we 
learn that " King Henry tin sixt, did giue the i ffice 
of garbelling of spices, to the Lord Mayor and Com- 
minaltie of London for euer, to the end that the 
spices bioght into this realme, should bee made 
cieane, and the corrupt o be deuided from the good, 
for the hea'the and good of the subiectes of this 
Bealme." But in consequence of the acts relating 
thereto not being sufficiently precise aud stringent 
with regard to the manner and extent to which the 
various spicss should be garbled, "the Garbeller 
under the Lord Mayor, garbelleth the said spices ae 
it pieaseth him : and he retaylors grocers by fore* 
of the said actes, are inforcea to put the -mi., to 
sale iu such manner as the said garbellars doo 
handle them, and in euch sort : 
That hir Ma.iestie is deceived ia the goodaea an 1 
price of the aaid spice, to a great value in the y ctrt 
"The mai chant and owners before their faces are 
defrauded and deluded, with their o not goodea. 
"The Retaylors are discredited, and their npicc 
in markets a' d faires are made forfeit by reason of 
their corruption. 
"The price is nothing abated. 
"And all the people are deceived." 
Further, garblers, are accused of " re-parbelling " 
the spices after they hr.d been (submitted and passed 
as being of the quality described and demanded by 
the purchaser, and also of charging about doable the 
prices fixed by the magistrates. To prevent all such 
irregularities, the grocers proposed a system of 
supervision, which would ensure the marking and seal- 
ing of the spices as bonus, melior, or optima*, according 
to the quaiily of the spice, attested by the garbler c 
name. 
It may be of interest to add the names of the 
spices iu use in those days, a- enumerated and spelled 
in the book under notice : cloues, maces syuamon, 
nutmegges, ginge--, gawles, ryae, anysecdes, vtoorme- 
seed, graincs, almonds, dates, scuie, comminuted, 
turmerick, orchall. gum arabeck, bayberies, masticl;. 
irankensence, orris, stavesacte, galliugall, Brtwall, 
spignard, eolianders, cassia fistula, morriewax, and 
littmus. 
bome of the foregoing hardly ccrue under the 
category of what would be considered spices at the 
present day , aud some of the names require expla- 
nation. Thus staves ere is the seed of Delphinium 
Stuphisagria; gallingall the root of Cypetus lougus; 
setwell, root of Vulerian ; littmus, thelicbene, R c- 
cella tinctoria, as given in Britten and Holland's 
J/ictioiiary of Etiyluh i hint Sanies. I have not been 
able 10 ascertain what is intended by morris a as.. 
W. BoTTING BLeMSLEY.— Gardtntl V Chronicle. 
Vanilla in Reunion— The following abort bat in- 
teresting note on the Vanilla produce of Reunion 
has recently been published by the Foreign Office 
in a Consu ar Report from that island. Reunion, 
it is stated, is the largest Vanilla prodocii g countrv, 
nearly 96 tons, valued at t'll5,5SCO, having bee'u 
exported in 1S92. Its quality is much appreciated 
in Europe, that from Mexico alone fetching a higher 
figure. The Seychelles Vaniila is recognigtd as 
much inferior. It is exported mainly by the Met- 
sageries Marhimes steamers to Marseilles and Ha- 
vre at a freight of nearly £10 a ton. It is most y 
bound fcr the French market, Paris, Bordeaux, and 
Nantes; but a considerable quantity goes to Ham- 
burgh for German, Austrian, Danish and Norwegian 
use. The Lon on market is supplied mainly from 
the Seychelles and Mauritius, and receives very litt'e 
Vanilla fr. m Reunion even via France. This grace- 
ful creeper, hanging in heavy snake-like folds round 
the trunk of its supporter, grows iu shady places 
underneath trees in any soil, which is kej.t fairly 
moist by rains, and ii l as the advantage of b' ing 
produced in places fit for no other purpose, such as 
a forest of Filaos (Casuarina equisetifo ia). Perhaps 
few other products have experienced such wonderful 
fluctuations in value, the price varying from 300 francs 
to 30 fraLCs per kilo. Tee Vaniila pod loses about 
three quarters of its weight in prepaiation. It is 
either plunged in boiling water or heated in ovens 
It is then placed in the sr.n, carefully covered over 
to prevent undue heati g, after which it is dried 
un er cover, and care'uly watched for the slightest 
trace of moisture. After three months treatment it 
is carefully sorted according to leugth aad quality, 
and finally packed for export in small tin cases. 
Ibid- 
