FOREIGN NOTICES. 



431 



In order to keep the water in motion, a small 

 wheel was added at one corner; over that wheel 

 water was caused to drop continually with force 

 enough to keep the wheel constantly revolving ; 

 the water thus continually flowing into the tank 

 was carried oil" hy a small pipe in one of its cor- 

 ners near the bottom. In this way were secured 

 the important advantages of the water being so 

 often chanced that it could not become stagnant, 

 together with ceaseless gentle agitation. Nothing 

 could be more like the natural state of a tranquil 

 river. By the heating apparatus its temperature 

 could also be regulated with facility. The ther- 

 mometer has generally indicated 85°. 



In the centre of the tank was introduced a hil- 

 lock of earth, consisting of burnt loam and peat. 

 To the burning of the loam Mr. Paxton attaches 

 great importance; and this agrees with the daily 

 experience of those who employ burnt or charred 

 materials in gardening. The physical condition of 

 soil is much improved by the process, and the 

 weeds and insects are destroyed. Mr. Paxton 

 is also of opinion that the removal by fire of all 

 matters ready to enter into fermentation or rapid 

 decomposition, when in contact with water heated 

 to 85°, was in itself no inconsiderable cause 

 of the success of his experiment; in addition to 

 which it preserved the water perfectly translu- 

 cent. 



On the hillock thus prepared, the Victoria Lily 

 was planted on the 10th of August; and on the 

 1st of November the first flower appeared. For 

 some interesting details of the rate of growth, 

 and other circumstances connected with the pro- 

 gress of the lily, we refer to a paper in another 

 column by Mr. George Eyles. who has the spe- 

 cial charge of the plant at Chatsworth. 



The largest leaf yet produced is nearly five 

 feet in diameter; the largest flower, ten and a 

 half inches in diameter. The latter appears to 

 be the size of those seen by Bridges ; Schom- 

 burgk, however, says that he saw flowers as 

 much as fifteen inches in diameter; and D'Orbig- 

 ny says upwards of a foot. The leaves, too, al- 

 though larger than any mentioned by Bridges, 

 are inferior in magnitude to those found in Ber- 

 bice, one of which measured six feet five inches 

 in diameter. 



It thus appears that, although skill has suc- 

 ceeded in compelling the Victoria Lily to expose 

 her blossoms to the gaze of England, there is 

 still something to improve; as might have been 

 expected from the unfavorable circumstances under 

 which the cultivation at Chatsworth was necessa- 

 rily conducted. In one point, more especially, 

 there is evidently much to accomplish. All travel- 

 lers speak of the edges of the leaves being turned 

 up; Schomburgk says that he has seen the rim 

 thus formed as much as five and a half inches 

 high; D'Orbigny speaks of two inches. In the 

 Chatsworth plant there is no rim, except when 

 the leaves are very young. The leaves are, in 

 fact, much more tender than could have been an- 



ticipated from parts of so large a size, which is 

 perhaps owing to the rapidity of their formation. 

 Nevertheless, they are so buoyant as to be capable 

 of supporting a considerable weight. In the Il- 

 lustrated London News a liittlc girl is represented 

 standing on one of them ; this is no exaggeration. 

 A child three years old did stand upon one of the 

 leaves, a circular piece of wood having first been 

 placed upon it to distribute the weight. The 

 wood weighed fifteen pounds, the young lady 

 about forty-two pounds; in all, the weight was 

 not much less than sixty pounds. An enormous 

 quantity of air-cells, of considerable size, dispersed 

 through the thick ribs of these leaves account for 

 the buoyancy. 



The flower itself, when it first opens, resem- 

 bles the White Water Lily, of a dazzling white, 

 with its fine leathery petals forming a goblet of 

 the most elegant proportions; but as the day ad- 

 vances it gradually expands till it becomes nearly 

 flat; towards evening a faint blush becomes visi- 

 ble in the centre; the petals fall back more and 

 more; and at last, about 6 o'clock, a sudden 

 change occurs; in a few minutes the petals ar- 

 range themselves in the form of a snow-white 

 hemisphere, whose edge reposes on the water, 

 and the centre rises majestically at the summit, 

 producing a diadem of rosy points. It consti- 

 tutes one of the most elegant objects in nature. 

 Shortly after, the expansion of the central parts 

 proceeding, these points fall back; the stamens 

 unfold in an interior coronet, the stigmas are laid 

 bare, a grateful perfume rises into the air, and the 

 great object of the flower, the fertilisation of the 

 seeds, is accomplished. Then fold inwards the 

 petals, the flower closes, the fairest of vegetable 

 textures becomes wrinkled, decay begins, and the 

 flower-stalk withdraws itself beneath the water, 

 as if to veil the progress of corruption. But out 

 of this decay arises a new living body; the fruit, 

 curved downwards, swells rapidly, and in a short 

 time the fruit, a prickly seed-vessel, is observed 

 concealed beneath the floating leaves. Further 

 than this the Victoria has not been watched ; 

 but travellers say that at last the ripened fruit 

 rises majestically above the lake in the shape of 

 a goblet of exquisite proportions. 



Of the fragrance natural to the plant we have 

 small experience. Bridges describes it in the 

 following terms: " I had an opportunity of expe- 

 riencing the fragrance of the flowers. Those I 

 collected for preserving in spirits were unex- 

 panded, but on the point of opening; on arriving 

 at the Government House, in the town, I deposited 

 them in my room, and returning after dark, I 

 found to my surprise that all had blown and were 

 exhaling a most delightful odor, which at first I 

 compared to a rich pine-apple, afterwards to a 

 melon, and then to the Cherimoya ; but, indeed, 

 it resembled none of these fruits, and I at length 

 came to the decision that it was a most delicious 

 scent, unlike every other, and peculiar to the no- 

 ble flower that produced it." We must wait till 



