FOREIGN NOTICES, 



Ul 



is contained in the cutting, without doing much 

 for encouiagiiig tlie protrusion of roofs. In sun- 

 ny weather iheywill require to be kept close, and 

 receive frequent sprinklings li om the syringe, to 

 lessen their powers of evaporating their juices, 

 but at night and morning air may be given, and 

 the sashes at times wholly removed. When pro- 

 jiagating in spring the same course may be adopt- 

 ed, with one or two exception.s. First, as the 

 presence of sun at that period is not so much to 

 be depended on as in the autumn, the cuttings 

 sliould be placed pretty near the glass, and shading 

 in bright weather resorted to when necessary, as 

 otherwise, in long continued dull weather, the cut- 

 linns would become weak and spindled. And, se- 

 condly, as the cuttings had been j^iightly forced 

 before their removal from their mother plant, a 

 little mild bottom-heat, of from 60° to 80°, would 

 be of great service to them, siving them a top 

 temperature of from 50° to 60". These, as we 

 have already hinted, are the circumstances under 

 which the finest plants are most easily produced. 

 R. Fish, in Cottage Gardener. 



Some Account of the VicTORtA Regia in its 

 Native Watehs. — " We at length reached the 

 igarape, and were at once gratified by seeing the 

 Victoria growing by the opposite shore of tlie 

 igarape itself. We were warned by the people 

 not to go amongst the plants, as their |)ricklc» 

 were venemous; but I got both hands and feet cou- 

 siderably pricked without experiencing any ill ef- 

 fects. We were fortunate in rinding the plant 

 in good flower, but, according to the testimony of 

 all at Santarem who have seen it, the leaves at- 

 tain their greatest dimensions in the winter. Cap- 

 tain Hislop assures me he has seen many leaves 

 12 feet in diameter, whereas the largest we saw 

 measured a very little above 4 feet across, and 

 they were packed as close as they could lie. But 

 I can easily conceive how, in the wet season, their 

 dimensions should be considerably augmented, for 

 whereas at present the plant is growing in less 

 than 2 feet of water, in winter the igarape will be 

 filled to its topmost banks, or at least 13 feet 

 deeper than at present, while its breadth will also 

 be greatly increased; so that the petioles of the 

 Victoria, lengthening doubtless with the rise of 

 the waters, will bring the leaves to a much grea- 

 ter surface, on which they will have room to dilate 

 to about twice their present size. The aspect of 

 the Victoria in its native waters is so new and ex- 

 traordinary, that I am at a loss to what to com- 

 pare It. The image is not a very poetical one, 

 but assuredly the impression the plant gave me, 

 when A'iewed from the bank above, was that of a 

 number of tea-trays lloating, with here and there 

 a bouqiiet protruding between them; but when 

 more closely viewed, the leaves excited the grea- 

 test admiration, from their immensity and perfect 

 symmetry. A leaf turned upsu^gests some strange 



fabric of cast-iron, just taken ont of the furnace p 

 its colour, and the enormous ribs with which it is 

 strengthened, increasing the similariiy. I could 

 find no prostrate trunk, as in tiio other Nympliica- 

 cea3. The root is central, the thickness of a man's 

 lea, penetrating deep into the mud (we could not 

 dig to the bottom of it with our tresados,) and 

 sending out fascicles of whit if-h radicles, about 25, 

 from below the base of each petiole, the thickness 

 of a finger and 2 feet or more in length. The radi- 

 cles are imperforate, and give out here and there 

 a very lew slender fibres. From the same root I 

 have seen flowers uniting the characters of Victo- 

 ria regia and criiziana (of the latter I have only 

 the brief description in Walpers,) so that I can 

 hardly doubt their being the same species, as had 

 been already more thon suspected. The igarape, 

 where we gathered the Victoria, is called Tapiru- 

 ari. I had two llowcrK brought to me a few days* 

 afterwards from the adjacent lake, which seems to 

 have no name but that of the sitios on its banks. 

 Mr. Jeli'reys has also brouglit me flowers from 

 the Rio Arrapixuna, Mhich runs into the Tabajoz 

 above Santarcui, and in the wet season unites the 

 TabajoK and Aniazfui. I have further informa- 

 tion of its growing alnmdanily in a lake beyond 

 the Rio Mayaca, which flows into tlic Amazon 

 some miles below Santarem. Mr. Walhtce, who 

 recently visited Monte Alegre, had a leaf and 

 (lower brought to him there ; I have seen a por- 

 tion of the leaf, whicii he dried. Lastly, I have 

 correct intclligcnen of its occurring in the Rio 

 Tronibctas near Obidos, and in lakes between the 

 river Tobajoz and Madeira, so that there can be 

 no doubt of its beiny; plentifully distributed through- 

 out the whole of this region, both north and south 

 of the Amazon." Mr. Spruce^s Voyage up the 

 Amazon, in Hooker's Journal of Botany. 



Interestivg Experiment. — -Two hundred 

 pounds of earth were dried in an oven, and after- 

 wards put into a large earthenware vessel, the 

 eurth was then moistened with rain water, and a 

 willow tree, weighing 5 lbs. was placed therein. 

 Uiuing the space of five years the earth was care- 

 fully watered with rain water, or pure water; the 

 willow grew and flourished ; and to prevent the 

 earth being mixed with fresh earth, or dust blown 

 into it by the winds, it was covered by a metal 

 plate, perforated with a great nimibcr of small 

 lioles, suitable for the free admission of air only. 

 After growing in the earth for five years, the wil- 

 low tree was removed, and found to weigh 169 

 lbs. and about 3 ounces ; the leaves whicli fell from 

 the tree every autumn were not included in this 

 weight. The earth was then removed from the 

 vessel, again dried in the oven, and afterwards 

 weighed; it was discovered to have lost only about 

 2 ounces of its oriainal weight; thus 164 lbs. of 

 iignin, or woodv fibre, bark, roots, &c., were cer- 

 tainly produced — but from what source? 



