discovered in the neighbourhood of Istapa, by our indefatigable friend Mr. Skinner, who has thus gained 
the distinction of making an important addition to one of the most extraordinary genera of this singular 
tribe. 
We will now proceed to contrast the two rival swans. C. Loddigesii, perhaps, bears, on the whole, 
the closest resemblance to its feathered prototype ; for the column (answering to the neck of the bird) is 
long and pleasingly curved, whereas that of C. ventricosum is lamentably short ; the sepals and petals too 
(wings) of the former are thrown wide open, which looks better than to have them thrown entirely back, as 
-is the case with the latter: in the body, however, C. ventricosum has decidedly the advantage, for nothing 
could approach nearer to the swelling bosom of a swan, than its pure milk-white lip; the same part in 
C. Loddigesii being of a dingy colour, and much more like the male Meloe beetle than the breast of the 
most graceful of birds. If it were but possible to unite the sepals and petals and column of the one with 
the lip of the other, we should then have a vegetable swan, as perfect in all its parts as are the flies and 
bees with which the Orchises of English meadows present us.* Both species diffuse a powerful odour ; 
that of the C. Loddigesii is agreeable, and resembles honey ; that of C. ventricosum, on the contrary, is 
somewhat acrid, especially when the flowers have begun to wane. Leaves are produced in greater abundance 
in the Surinam species than in the one from Guatemala. The capsule represented in the drawing adhered 
to the plant on its arrival in this country, and a most interesting relic it is, the huge size of the seed- 
vessel being scarcely less remarkable than the extreme minuteness of the seeds, with an innumerable 
quantity of which it was at one time filled. This plant requires precisely the same treatment as Catasetum. 
(vide Tab. II.) 
We are indebted to Miss Jane Edwards for the very beautiful drawing from which our plate is copied. 
Fearing that the flowers of our new Cycnoches might prove too fleeting to admit of their being sent to a 
g y ght p s Se 
professional artist in London, we were extremely perplexed as to what course to pursue, when this young 
lady was so kind as to relieve us from our embarrassment, by tendering the assistance of her admirable 
ee. i g 
pencil, which she used on this occasion with even more than her wonted skill. 
* To catch the resemblance of the two species of Cycnoches to swans, it is necessary to reverse their flowers; this, however, merely restores them 
to their natural position, which they have lost by the circumstance of the raceme growing downwards instead of upwards. 
