294 
Some  Commercial  Vanillas. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharni. 
I       June,  1892. 
but  few  crystals  appearing  on  the  surface.  Transverse  sections 
showed  the  pericarp  to  be  very  thin  at  the  edges  and  to  consist 
largely  of  broken  down  dark  reddish  brown  cells. 
Tahiti  Vanilla. — The  vanilla  produced  in  the  Island  of  Tahiti  and 
in  the  Sandwich  Islands  is  all  sold  under  the  name  of  Tahiti  vanilla. 
It  is  largely  consumed  in  the  Pacific  Coast  and  Western  States. 
Some  years  ago  a  considerable  quantity  was  disposed  of  in  Phila- 
delphia among  the  retailers,  being  offered  as  transplanted  Mexican. 
The  imports  in  1891  amounted  to  5,000  pounds.  They  are  6  to 
7  inches  long,  broad  and  flat,  about  }i  to  y2  inch  in  width.  The 
color,  odor  and  external  markings  are  similar  to  the  South  Ameri- 
can. They  taper  for  a  short  distance  to  the  lower  end  and  are 
sharply  attenuated  and  twisted  toward  the  upper  end.  They  are 
likewise  very  pulpy. 
Vanillons. — While  some  few  wild  or  uncultivated  vanillas  are  col- 
lected in  Mexico,  the  bulk  of  those  entering  commerce  are  obtained 
from  the  West  Indies,  Guadaloupe  and  Martinique  being  the  princi- 
pal places  of  export. 
Their  principal  consumption  is  among  the  tobacco  manufacturers, 
and  perfumers  for  the  manufacture  of  sachet  powders. 
They  are  from  4  to  5  inches  in  length,  y§  to  ^  or  even  I  inch  in 
diameter,  frequently  sharply  angled,  exhibiting  almost  a  triangular 
shape  on  cross-sectioning.  They  are  nearly  the  same  diameter  for 
the  greater  portion  of  their  length,  being  attenuated  at  both  ends. 
They  are  brown  to  a  red-brown  in  color  and  longitudinally  ridged. 
The  transverse  markings,  due  to  their  being  wrapped  with  twine 
during  the  process  of  curing,  give  them  a  curious  twisted  appearance. 
They  are  generally  split  open  and  lack  almost  entirely  the  odor  of 
vanillin,  their  odor  being  compared  to  a  cross  between  a  fermented 
sugar  and  heliotrope  odor.  They  are  devoid  of  any  crystalline 
efflorescence. 
[The  characters  of  the  different  commercial  varieties  of  vanilla  are  not  all 
correct^  shown  in  the  cut,  some  of  the  curved  ends  being  too  angular,  and  the 
stigmatic  surfaces  and,  in  some  cases,  the  attenuations  not  sufficiently  distinct.] 
Commercial  benzoic  chloride,  according  to  Victor  Meyer  (Berichte, 
1891,  p.  4251)  is  usually  contaminated  with  chlorobenzoic'  chloride,  and  the 
benzoyl  compounds  prepared  from  it  often  contain  chlorinated  derivatives, 
which  cannot  be  separated  by  recrystallization  ;  1*5  per  cent,  of  chlorine  was 
found  in  one  product. 
