582 
Vanilla. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1393. 
is  only  necessary  to  allow  it  to  remain  in  the  sun  three  or  four 
minutes  more  or  less  than  is  required  to  bring  about  one  or  the  other 
of  these  results.  Great  care  and  fine  eyesight  are  required  in  the 
separation  of  the  diseased  from  the  sound,  because,  if  only  one 
remains  undetected  it  will  mould  and  endanger  other  bundles  in  a 
short  time.  The  curers  in  Papantla  excel  in  curing  and  bunching 
the  bundles,  and  in  the  regularity  and  evenness  with  which  they 
classify  the  size  and  quality.  As  a  rule  planters  do  not  know  how 
to  prepare  the  Bean,  so  they  sell  them  in  an  unripe  state  to  curers 
who  yearly  employ  experts  for  that  purpose.  The  Beans  are  brought 
in  by  the  natives  in  large  and  small  lots  very  similar  to  the  way  in 
which  our  country  people  bring  in  rags,  butter  and  eggs  to  the  town 
storekeeper.  The  Bean  are  first  put  in  a  sweat  box,  where  they  are 
sweated  about  36  hours.  They  are  then  placed  on  mats  in  the  sun 
if  the  day  is  bright  and  clear,  if  not  they  are  placed  in  a  large  oven 
to  dry.  This  requires  the  utmost  care  and  attention,  else  the  Beans 
are  easily  spoiled.  After  the  excess  of  moisture  is  dried  out,  they 
are  again  sweated.  This  operation  is  repeated  until  they  are  black. 
They  are  then  placed  in  the  sun  in  the  middle  of  the  day  only  from 
eleven  to  one ;  they  are  then  put  in  racks  in  Vanilla  rooms,  one 
above  the  other.  While  the  curing  is  going  on  it  is  necessary  to 
separate  them  with  the  utmost  care ;  the  discolored  from  the  black 
bundles,  the  very  small,  the  impoverished,  those  with  skin  woody  at 
intervals,  the  ones  with  a  tough,  thick  and  smooth  skin,  and  also 
the  spotted,  cracked  or  split  Bean,  assorting  them  in  their  respective 
classes.  The  great  care  to  be  exercised  in  curing  Vanilla  can  be 
appreciated  by  what  I  have  said  before  ;  but  it  is  not  amiss  to  observe 
that  however  little  it  is  over  dried  it  is  sufficient  to  reduce  the  weight 
almost  one  pound  to  the  thousand,  which  would  be  a  great  loss* 
besides  the  Bean  that  is  over  dried  loses  some  of  its  color,  and  depre- 
ciates its  value  one  or  two  dollars  a  pound,  which  amounts  to  as 
much  as  the  loss  in  weight.  When  the  Vanilla  is  thoroughly  ripe 
it  is  easier  to  ascertain  the  required  point  of  curing,  and  besides 
gives  less  trouble  and  is  not  so  exposed  to  changes.  It  gets  silvery- 
white  being  cured,  and  in  a  few  months  it  is  crystallized,  and  will  be 
preserved  in  this  way  for  a  number  of  years.  If  cut  when  unripe 
just  the  opposite  happens,  for  not  only  are  few  crystallized  but  their 
keeping  quality  is  poor.  After  the  Beans  are  thoroughly  cured,  which 
takes  from  three  to  four  months,  they  are  assorted  in  different  sizes 
