doubt, this species is a native of mountainous places in Java. Dr. 

 Wallich found it in one of the Islands in the Straits of Malacca, and 

 also in the province of Martaban, as appears from that part of the 

 Catalogue oj Dried Plants distributed under the orders of the Honour- 

 able Court of Directors of the East India Company, which has just ap- 

 peared. This catalogue ah-eady comprehends upwards of 2000 species, 

 of the greater part of which specimens have been, or will be, pre- 

 sented to scientific institutions and persons in every part of the 

 civilised world. Large as is the number already enumerated, it is to 

 be considered as a mere fragment of what the catalogue will event- 

 ually contain, so stupendous are the stores from which the collection 

 is derived, and so unreserved is the liberality of the generous and 

 enlightened donors. We trust that this splendid example will be 

 followed by other bodies in whose possession are similar extensive 

 collections, whether Botanical or belonging to any department of 

 Natural History whatsoever. To keep the duplicates, triplicates, 

 and multiplicates of collections which have often cost the public 

 large sums of money, and which have always been formed at great 

 personal risk and trouble, — we say, to keep such collections locked 

 up in chests, deposited in cellars, or tied up in bundles, in public 

 museums, where they can only become the food of insects, or the 

 victims of dust and time, is cruel towards those by whom they were 

 procured, unjust towards the community, unworthy of men of liberal 

 minds, and most injurious to the best interests of science. It is 

 highly to the honour of Great Britain that this system of distributing 

 the duplicates of public collections should have originated with her ; 

 and we are sure that, whether this example is followed by the British 

 and other Governments, as we trust that it speedily will be, or not, 

 the name of the English East India Company will stand in the 

 records of science as far above that of all other associations of indi- 

 viduals, as it already does in the annals of commerce, and in the 

 history of political affairs. 



Dr. Blume's genus Pedilonura is characterised by the cohesion of 

 its lateral sepals into a spur ; but as this character is not in any 

 degree connected with habit, and can frequently not be determined 

 with accuracy, in consequence of the numerous and insensible gra- 

 dations of union between the sepals, and is, moreover, unaccompanied 

 by any kind of secondary character, we are obliged to reject it. 



J. L. 



Note. 



In the last Number of the Botanical Magazine a fine Orchideous plant 

 was published, under the name of Stanhopea insignis. As this is likely to 

 attract attention, and will probably be soon a common plant in collections, 

 ■we take the earliest opportunity of giving notice, that the name assigned to 

 it in the Botanical Magazine cannot be retained, as it is a species of Cera- 

 tochilus, a genus long since published in Mr. Loddiges' Botanical Cabinet. 



