88 
SPICES 
CHAP. 
resulted in making the French market more important than 
the London market, and that the Seychelles vanilla is now 
going there in consequence. In that market he is now paying 
from 36 to 40 francs per lb. for vanillas which, three years ago, 
he bought for 12 to 15 francs per lb. We mention these high 
figures to show you the impossibility of giving you any actual 
idea of probable prices, for we have seen vanillas here which are 
not quoted at more than $2.50 per lb. They are, of course, not 
Bourbon or Mexican vanillas, and are not well dried or well packed. 
These considerations serve to show the conditions 
in the different markets, and must be taken into 
account before, in any particular instance, the matter 
is discussed in relation to the agricultural aspect. They 
should be helpful in giving some idea of the purely 
commercial tenor of the subject {Agricultural News, 
vol. ix. p. 53). 
CONSTITUENTS OF THE PODS 
The amount of vanillin in the pods varies in pro- 
portion in different gatherings and even in different 
years. The following analysis shows the 
under different circumstances : — 
proportions 
Vanillin 
per cent. 
1. Mexican first quality collected in 1873 
1-69 
1874 . 
1-86 
medium ...... 
1-32 
2. Bourbon first quality collected in 1874 
L91-2-90 
1875 . 
L97-2-43 
medium ...... 
1-19 
inferior quality collected in 1874 
1-55 
„ „ 1875 
•75 
3. Java first quality collected in 1873 . 
2-75 
medium collected in 1874 
4. Brazilian Vanillas 
1-56 
Goyaz ........ 
1*25 
Santa Catherina ...... 
1-34 
Para ........ 
•95 
Bio de Janeiro ...... 
1-50-1-68 
5. German East Africa, collected in 1894 
2-16 
Ceylon ....... 
1-48 
Tahiti ........ 
L65-2-02 
(Analyses 1-3 by Tiemann and Haarmann, 4 by T. and G. Peikoly, 
5 by Dr. Busse.) 
