448  Cultivation  of  Star  Anise  in  Annam* 
of  fruit ;  a  full-sized  tree,  with  a  diameter  of  forty  to  fifty  centimetres, 
gives  two  hundred  kilograms.  The  fruit  is  sold  whilst  green  to  the 
manufacturers  of  the  oil  at  the  price  of  four  tiens  the  Aimamite  kilo- 
gram. 
The  Annamites  sow  the  seed  of  the  bac-giai-qua  "  in  manured 
soil.  The  young  plants  issue  from  the  soil  after  about  twenty  or 
thirty  days,  and  in  two  or  three  years  they  attain  a  height  of  twenty 
or  thirty  centimetres.  They  are  then  transplanted  and  pricked  out  at 
a  distance  of  five  or  six  metres  from  each  other,  but  always  upon  the 
slopes  free  from  stones  and  never  at  the  bottom  of  a  ravine. 
The  tree  bears  a  small  yellow  and  white  flower  in  the  first  or  second 
month  of  the  Annamite  year  and  fruit  in  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  month, 
but  it  yields  fruit  only  every  two  years.  The  collection  of  the  fruit 
is  made  by  hand.  The  cultivation  is  not  subject  to  any  impost.  The 
fruit  is  purchased  either  directly  in  the  villages,  or  in  the  country 
markets,  at  a  half  ligature  the  Annamite  kilogram. 
The  manufacture  of  the  oil  was  subject  to  a  tax  that  was  collected 
by  the  tuara-phu,'^  who  was  at  the  same  time  the  farmer  of  star  anise 
for  the  province  of  Langson.  The  tax  varied  according  to  the  extent 
of  the  operation ;  it  was  three  ligatures  for  a  large  distillation  of  ten 
kilograms  of  fruit,  and  one  ligature  and  a  half  for  a  distillation  of 
three  or  four  kilograms.  This  tax  was  paid  for  every  distillation  and 
authority  to  distil  had  to  be  renewed  each  time.  The  only  existing 
apparatus  is  of  the  dimensions  suited  for  one  or  other  of  these  two 
quantities. 
The  oil  is  the  product  of  a  distillation  conducted  as  follows :  Into 
a  first  recipient,  which  is  an  iron  pan  about  seventy-five  centimetres  in 
diameter,  are  placed  ten  kilograms  of  star  anise  and  water,  which 
quantity  nearly  fills  it.  A  second  iron  pan,  pierced' with  a  circular 
opening  about  twenty-five  to  thirty  centimetres  in  circumference,  is 
placed  upon  the  first,  bottom  upwards,  so  as  to  form  a  cover.  Over 
the  opening  in  this  pan  is  placed  an  earthen  vessel,  having  three  small 
orifices  in  the  lower  part,  which  allow  the  access  of  the  vapor  into  this 
vessel.  These  orifices  are  covered,  on  the  inside  of  the  recipient,  by 
small  ear-shaped  hoods  that  have  for  their  object  to  throw  the  vapor 
upon  the  side  of  the  vessel.  Lastly,  this  earthen  vessel  is  covered  by 
an  iron  pan  which  performs  the  part  of  refrigerant,  and  into  which  a 
continuous  current  of  cold  water  is  made  to  pass  by  means  of  a  bamboo 
pipe,  from  a  vat  placed  near  the  apparatus.    The  joints  of  the  first 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       Sept.,  1885. 
