In this list the Vanilla is not included, as that plant has recently been separated (no doubt, most judiciously) 
by Dr. Linpiey, from the natural order “ Orchidacez,’’ and constituted the type of a new order of its own. 
If then, this brief catalogue comprehend all the instances in which this vast order either relieve the wants, or aid 
the pursuits of mankind, its very scantiness would seem to argue that it was neither to provide us with food or 
raiment, nor to protect us from disease or cold, that tropical forests were made to teem with an almost endless 
variety of the tribe; either, therefore, in the cheerless spirit of atheism, we must suppose them to have been created 
in vain, or we must conclude that their office was something other and higher than to minister to the mere animal 
necessities of our nature. No; it was to yield us a pleasure of an intellectual kind, and so to win our affections from 
more hurtful things, that these most worthless of plants were clothed in unrivalled charms;—it was to provide a 
rich banquet in the temple of Flora, which, while it yielded the utmost enjoyment to her more constant votaries, 
might, at the same time, draw round her innocent table those who were more rarely numbered among her guests ; 
an entertainment, in short, which might attract the man of pleasure by its splendour, the virtuoso by its rarity, and 
the man of science by its novelty and extraordinary character. It is, we are convinced, on this principle alone that 
we can attempt to understand the Orchido-Mania, which now pervades all (and especially the upper) classes, to such 
a marvellous extent. Not contented with the exertions of our foreign connexions, we send men expressly to all the 
points of the compass, to swell the number of the species in cultivation; and in this zeal for their introduction, the 
amateur, the nurseryman, and the public establishment, all vie with each other. The nobility, the clergy, those 
engaged in the learned professions or in the pursuits of commerce, seem alike unable to resist the influence of the 
prevailing passion; nay, if we may trust a paragraph in a morning paper, it has even extended to Windsor Castle itself.* 
Works solely devoted to the “ Orchidacew” have made, or are about to make, their appearance ;+ houses for their 
accommodation are rearing in every direction, and, as a matter of course, included in all designs for a complete 
residence ;{ pots for their exclusive use are already sold in the shops of London;|| their blossoms are even now 
imitated in the establishments of some of the most fashionable manufacturers of artificial flowers 3) and prizes, the most 
munificent, are offered by all Horticultural Societies, for the finest specimens of their popular family. 
On the Continent, as in England, collectors are every day entering the field. Russia, Austria, and even Tuscany, 
are infected; and in Holland and Belgium, Bulbs and Camellias seem likely to be neglected in the growing rage for the 
new favourites. In its extent and intensity this Orchido-mania bids fair to rival the Haarlem mania for Tulips (so 
memorable in the annals of horticultural enthusiasm); it is based, however, on a much better foundation than that 
most strange infatuation; for while mere abstract beauty is all that could be alleged in favour of the one, full fifty good 
reasons may be brought forward to excuse and even justify the other. Some of these we shall presently enumerate; 
but we must first briefly notice the cause which has delayed the developement of the present “ furor,’ until 
nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, and which, we are satisfied, will be found to have been no other than the 
supposed impracticability of cultivating them with any success. In addition to its obvious tendency to prevent the 
formation of collections, this cause had the effect of retarding the acquaintance of Botanists with this tribe in a far 
greater degree than could have occurred in the case of any other vegetable family whatsoever; for not merely does the 
succulent and fragile nature of the subjects make it, in some cases, impossible to dry them at all, but it always renders 
imperfect and difficult of determination such specimens as, by dint of skill and care, have at last been placed in our 
Herbaria. 
Again: as it is usual for these plants to flower, for the most part, in the rainy season, in the dampest woods and in 
the most noxious atmosphere, they were, in a measure, secured from the depredations of the botanical collector, who 
would not merely have had to risk his life to possess himself of their flowers, but so secret, and frequently inaccessible, 
are the situations in which they grow, that probably, after all his labour and perils, nine-tenths of their number would 
have eluded his grasp; the result of his mission would therefore have been to impress us, in the first place, with an 
idea that the species were not numerous, and in the next, to convey but a very imperfect notion of their beauty ; for as 
the largest and most extraordinary forms are invariably the most fleeting, so they are the most rarely met with in per- 
fection, and, even when detected, are the most difficult to preserve. All these circumstances combining with the great 
similarity which, when out of flower, the members of this family bear to each other (in the eyes at least of all but the 
mtiated), it will no longer excite our surprise that a very erroneous estimate should have been formed of their number 
and merit, until we discovered the proper mode of their cultivation. But no sooner was this grand object attained, 
* We allude to a recent paragraph in the Morning Post, in which “ the Chinese Air-plant” is stated to have flowered in the royal conservatory. 
+ &. g. Dr. Lindley’s “ Sertum Orchidewm,” and our own “ Opusculum.” 
t Vide. Mr. Rutger’s designs for residences in Loudon’s Gardener's Magazine. 
|| At Lowesby’s Terra-cotta warehouse, 18, King William Street, Strand. 
§ At Foster’s, 16, Wigmore Street. 
