Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1893. 
Vanilla. 
S77 
Mr.  Fuenti  told  me  he  had  made  the  experiment  of  severing  the 
reed  two  or  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and  in  a  few  days  later  two 
or  more  tendrils  had  sprung  from  the  lower  end  of  the  vine  and 
gone  directly  to  the  earth,  thus  replacing  the  lost  base.  The  reed 
is  very  juicy,  and  when  deprived  of  its  roots  tries  to  replace  them, 
complying  with  the  laws  of  its  own  existence ;  but  this  is  done  at 
its  own  expense,  taking  nothing  from  the  tree,  which  statement  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  if  it  consumes  too  much  time  in  its  endeavor 
to  reach  the  soil  it  withers.  Should  the  tendrils  reach  the  soil 
before  the  reed  is  entirely  dried  up,  the  latter  recovers  later ;  but,  if 
on  the  contrary,  its  strength  is  not  sufficient  to  accomplish  the 
task  of  reaching  the  earth,  it  gradually  withers  until  it  dies.  In 
spite  of  the  facility  with  which  the  reed  takes  root  and  replaces  its 
base,  some  die,  either  because  the  reed  was  not  fresh  and  sound  or 
because  it  was  damaged,  or  by  reason  of  its  being  in  localities  where 
it  received  too  much  sun  or  too  much  shade. 
I  found  others  familiar  with  the  Vanilla  growth  contending  that 
the  plant  depended  for  its  nourishment  and  growth  upon  the  sap  of 
a  particular  tree — the  Cojondigate,  and  in  support  of  this  theory  I 
was  taken  to  the  forest  and  shown  vines  growing  luxuriantly 
around  the  base  of  this  tree,  showing  great  fertility  and  productiveness, 
and  a  high  state  of  health.  But  upon  examination  of  the  facts  I 
found  that  this  tree  would  grow  only  upon  certain  soil,  and  under 
certain  conditions,  where  the  soil  was  always  moist,  and  the  reason 
that  the  Vanilla  grew  so  much  better  on  this  than  on  any  other, 
was  because  the  conditions  that  so  well  suited  the  tree  were  the 
very  conditions  that  best  suited  the  Vanilla  Plant,  and  when  speak- 
ing of  my  observations  in  this  direction,  they  admitted  that  it  might 
be  possible,  and  when  finding  in  one  of  the  gardens  of  Papantla,  a 
vine  growing  upon  a  dead  tree,  they  could  not  but  confess,  that  it 
was  perhaps  not  a  parasite.  These  good  people  had  proven  to  me, 
or  assured  me,  in  their  correspondence  that  the  plant  was  a  parasite, 
and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  correct  the  error  I  was  then  laboring 
under.  After  making  diligent  inquiry  about  the  plant  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Agopito  Fontecilla,  who  I  soon  learned  was  an 
intelligent  man,  and  who  had  made  a  scientific  study  of  the  plant, 
and  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  greater  part  of  my  knowledge 
of  the  plant. 
Taking  the  average  of  the  last  ten  years,  the  number  of  Beans 
