POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY. 215 



When, however, one has seen that the aromatic plants of Aus- 

 tralia are almost free from attacks of insects and fungi, and has 

 learned to look on the impregnating substances in some cases as 

 protective against predatory insects and small foes of all kinds, 

 and in others as fungicidal, he is tempted to ask whether all the 

 substances of marked odor which we find in certain groups of 

 plants may not play a similar role. 



It is a fact of great interest to the surgeon that in many plants 

 there is associated with the fragrant principle a marked antiseptic 

 or fungicidal quality ; conspicuous examples of this are afforded 

 by species of eucalyptus, yielding eucalyptol; Styrax, yielding 

 styrone ; Thymus, yielding thymol. It is interesting to note, too, 

 that some of these most modern antiseptics were important con- 

 stituents in the balsamic vulneraries of the earliest surgery. 



Florists' plants and the floral fashions of the future constitute 

 an engaging subject which we can touch only lightly. It is rea- 

 sonably clear that while the old favorite species will hold their 

 ground in the guise of improved varieties, the new introductions 

 will come in the shape of plants with flowering branches which 

 retain their blossoms for a somewhat long period, and especially 

 those in which the flowers precede the leaves. In short, the next 

 real fashion in our gardens is probably to be the flowering shrub 

 and flowering tree, like those which are such favorites in the 

 country from which the Western world has gladly taken the gift 

 of the chrysanthemum. 



Twice each year, of late, a reception has been held by the 

 Emperor and Empress of Japan. The receptions are in autumn 

 and in the spring. That in the autumn, popularly known as the 

 Emperor's reception, has for its floral decorations the myriad 

 forms of the national flower, the chrysanthemum ; that which is 

 given in spring, the Empress's reception, comes when the cherry 

 blossoms are at their best. One has little idea of the wealth of 

 beauty in masses of flowering shrubs and trees until he has seen 

 the floral displays in the Imperial Gardens and the Temple grounds 

 in Tokio. 



To Japan* and China also we are indebted for many of the 

 choicest plants of our gardens, but th& supply of species is by no 

 means exhausted. By far the larger number of the desirable 

 plants have already found their way into the hands of cultivators, 

 but often under conditions which have restricted their dissemi- 

 nation through the flower-loving community. There are many 

 which ought to be widely known, especially the fascinating dwarf 



* The Flowers of Japan and the Art of Floral Arrangement. By Josiah Conder, 

 F. R. I. B. A., Architect to the Imperial Japanese Government. Yokohama, 1S91. See 

 also two other works by the same author : Theory of Japanese Flower Arrangements, and 

 Art of Landscape Gardening in Japan. (1886.) 



