58o 
Vanilla. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\        Dec,  1893. 
The  proper  time  for  the  Mexican  Vanilla  Bean  to  ripen  is  in 
January  or  February,  but  such  a  demand  is  made  for  the  Bean  that 
for  several  years  the  growers  begin  to  gather  the  crop  in  October 
and  November,  so  that  the  harvest  is  over  before  the  time  it  should 
have  commenced,  and  this  Vanilla  weighs  one  pound  less  to  the  thou- 
sand, and  remains  red  and  subject  to  changes.  Vanilla,  if  allowed  to 
ripen  naturally,  remains  black,  juicy,  and  of  a  silvery  hue  shortly 
after  its  curing,  and  for  many  years  it  can  be  preserved  unchanged, 
but  if  cut  prematurely  it  is  affected  much,  as  any  other  fruit  naturally 
is  when  picked  two  or  three  months  before  the  time,  and  it  never 
looks  as  it  should  when  this  is  done.  In  order  to  impart  to  the 
bean  all  the  good  properties  of  which  it  is  susceptible  it  should  be 
cut  as  it  becomes  yellow,  for,  if  it  be  cut  all  at  once,  even  though  it 
be  in  the  month  of  January  (as  was  the  practice  some  years  ago)  the 
result  will  be  that  a  great  portion  of  it  will  remain  unripe,  because 
as  it  blooms  in  March,  April  or  May,  this  same  gradual  change  con- 
tinues, everything  being  equal,  until  it  ripens.  There  is,  besides, 
another  cause  which  brings  about  the  same  difference  even  in  the 
case  where  they  blossom  together,  and  that  is  the  greater  or  less 
shade  afforded  by  the  trees  on  which  the  vines  grow.  In  former 
times,  in  compliance  with  an  order  from  the  government,  the  sub- 
delegates,  and  after  them  the  civil  authorities  were  instructed  to  see 
that  the  unripe  fruit  should  not  be  cut.  When  this  duty  fell  to  the 
lot  of  conscientious  and  active  persons  abuses  were  in  a  great  meas- 
ure avoided,  but  complete  satisfactory  results  were  far  from  being 
attained  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  the  necessary  means  to  watch 
and  pursue  smugglers.  At  other  times  the  office  was  applied  for 
by  indolent  persons,  who  regarded  the  orders  of  the  government 
with  indifference,  and  thus  the  law  soon  fell  into  disrepute,  and  was 
finally  abolished  by  the  government.  The  difference  between  the 
price  of  the  Vanilla  picked  during  October  and  November,  and  that 
picked  after  January  is  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  nine.  Those 
acquainted  with  this  fact  seeing  those  Beans  sell  for  the  third  what 
they  know  by  their  yearly  experience  could  be  sold  for  nine  because 
they  do  not  want  to  wait  two  or  three  additional  months  might 
think  them  foolish,  or  would  imagine  that  poverty  compelled 
them  to  suffer  this  loss  ;  but  it  is  neither  the  one  thing  nor  the 
other,  because  these  people  are  clear  headed  and  their  prosperity  so 
general  that  it  may  be  said  there  are  no  people  in  the  world  who 
