MISCELLANY. 317 
symptoms having been such as are familiar to medical men as the 
effect of an over-dose of prussic acid. Bitter almonds in substance, 
and in the form of essence, likewise the kernels of stone fruit, contain 
this acid in different proportions, which fact should be known, as it is 
much to be feared that these articles are used ignorantly with respect 
to their dangerous properties. In mentioning the case of my patient 
to a medical man, he informed me that a friend of his had had placed 
before him some custards, which seemed to be superimpregnated with 
bitter almonds. On questioning the cook as to what she had used, she 
replied, " Nothing but almond water, which is a harmless thing; Pd 
drink a bottle full of it !" " Would you replied the gentleman, " then 
bring me the liquid and the cat; when on pouring a small quantity of 
the liquid into the animal's mouth, poor puss instantly expired. The 
object of this notice, then, is to caution druggists especially against 
selling bitter almonds, or the preparation entitled essence of the same, 
without explicit printed directions as to the quantity which may be 
safely used (if the pampered appetite require that they should be used 
at all) as adjuncts to custards, puddings, and such like articles of diet. 
Chirurgicus. 
Pharmaceutical Journal. 
On Vanilla and its Culture. By Desvaux. — The cultivation of 
vanilla requires a damp but warm climate and a good soil. Hence a 
ground w r ith low shrubs, which give little shade, is best adapted. It 
is not necessary to till the ground in any way, but the slips of vanilla 
are planted at the root of a tree or shrub on the approach of the rainy 
season when they creep up around the trunk. Once a year the plan- 
tation is cleared of the exuberant shrubs, and in the third year the 
plants bear fruit. The inhabitants of Misantla, twenty-four leagues 
north-west of Vera Cruz, are the only persons of the republic of 
Mexico, engaged in the cultivation of this plant. They distinguish 
five sorts: 
1. La Corriente, of which there are two kinds : one with a delicate 
fine skin, rich in seeds and pulp, and the other of an inferior quality 
and with a thick skin ; the £ec, Ley, or Leg, of some parts of South 
America, the genuine vanilla of commerce. Perhaps Vanilla aromo- 
tica, Sw. ? 
2. La Sylvestre, or Cimarrona [wild vanilla] ; the fruit is smaller 
than the foregoing; it grows in the shade, or among the shrubs, its 
fruit therefore is less developed than that of the cultivated vanilla, with 
which it is identical. Some call it Simarona. 
