338 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



day, now resume their original upright position, as if to escort their 

 gay-colored companions surrounding the central cone to the limpid 

 surface below. After this, the immaculate white of the first bloom 

 changes to gay and brilliant pink and rose colors. Finally, a third 

 change ensues, marked by the spreading of the petals further back- 

 wards, so as to afford the enclosed fructifying organs liberty to expand. 

 These are soon seen to rise, giving to the disk of the flower a peach-blos- 

 som hue, the stamens and pistils assuming, at the same time, a figure 

 not unlike a crown. On the third day the flower is nearly closed. 

 All the petals seem suffused with a purplish pink ; the coloring matter, 

 which was originally only seen in the centre, having apparently pene- 

 trated the delicate tissues of the entire flower. 



During the past year, the Victoria Regia has been introduced into the 

 United States, by Mr. Cope, President of the Pennsylvania Horticul- 

 tural Society. This gentleman has succeeded in bringing the plant to 

 a greater perfection, as regards the size of the flowers and leaves, than 

 has been attained to in England. He has also succeeded in raising the 

 lily under glass, without the aid of stove-heat. 



