1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



253 



"ing people who want to get things just right, 

 and yet do not perceive that an English word is 

 not a Latin word, and that a botanical word 

 need not necessarily be a word for evei'y day 

 life. So they discovered that when we had been 

 • saying Verbenas and Dahlias, Gladioluses and 

 Cactuses, we were very wrong indeed, and must 

 ■ say Verbense, Dahlise, Gladioli, and Cacti, as if 

 we were talking in Latin and not in English. 

 The most common sense view seems to us to be 

 tliat when we have no word we want in the 

 English language, and have to coin one from a 

 foreign language, that adopted word should fol- 

 low English grammatical rules. 



The same trouble came in this Geranium mat- 

 ter. There is a botanical genus Pelargonium, 

 and one Geranium, and besides this Geranium 

 became an English word to represent an Eng- 

 lish idea, and in common use withEnglish-speak- 

 ling people. But botanists concluded that cer- 

 tain plants which they supposed Geraniums 

 were properly Pelargoniums. It was right to 

 -change the botanical name with the newly dis- 

 covered facts, but there is no reason that we can 

 Tinderstand why the English name should be 

 changed also. Like our correspondent, we are 

 often puzzled when reading English Horticul- 

 tural literature to know what they are talking 

 ■about when they get on "Pelargonium."] 



European Sketches. — Mr. W. T. Harding, 

 ■" Oak Hill Cemetery," Upper Sandusy, Ohio, 

 ^writes: "All things and events must at some- 

 time, sooner or later, come to an end; and in 

 ■some cases, regretfully so. Even the veiy pleas- 

 ant " European Notes, by the Editor," are no 

 exception, as he seems to hint in the July num- 

 ber of the Monthly. 



As a reader of that much loved magazine, I 

 can no longer refrain from testifying to the 

 merits of the exceedingly interesting " Xotes," 

 which flowed so graphically from his facile pen. 

 How familiar, to the mind's eye, of his corres- 



pondent, are many of the scenes, so faithfully 

 pictured. And how " the harp of a thousand 

 strings," brings back to memory soft notes of 

 olden times, when the master hand strikes the 

 chords which awaken recollections of days gone 

 by. And your pen, dear friend, was the plectrum 

 which often moved one to tears, as I followed 

 your footsteps listening to, and recognizing the 

 minstrel, so skilled in the lays of floral song. 

 Your " Xotes " gave no uncertain sounds ; but 

 were positively charming, instructive, entertain- 

 ing, piquant, and prosy. Often sentimental 

 and pathetic ; sometimes funny and amusing, 

 all times intelligent, practical and edifying. 

 Rest assured, your readers have been benefited 

 thereby, and if they make no remarks, their 

 " silence gives consent" for "more anon." That 

 j'ou are not " tresspassing on the reader's 

 good nature," I can vouch, and frankly admit 

 that I am one " who wants to hear stories a 

 year old." To quote the quaint diction of ancient 

 Pepys, they are ' mighty pleasant ' reading." 



Preserving Flowers of the Night 

 Blooming Cereus. — Geo. G. B., St. Joseph, 

 Mo., writes : " I have tried to preserve a flower 

 of Cereus grandiflorus in alcohol diluted with 

 an equal quantity of water ; but the result did not 

 prove satisfactory. The bloom dissolved some- 

 what, turned into a bad yellow color. Could you 

 inform me of a better recipe, how to keep this 

 beautiful ephemeral flower? I would feel 

 many times obliged. I was very glad to read 

 your instructive traveling observations, of Paris, 

 as of said places I am very familiar. I hope 

 we shall hear more from you about the Jardin 

 des Plantes, etc. I am not aware whether you 

 saw the splendid Park of Maison-sur-Seine, on 

 the railroad line to Rouen, which is considered 

 one of the prettiest places around Paris." 



[Perhaps the alcohol was not as good as it 

 should be ; for usually the flowers keep very 

 well.— Ed. G. M.] 



Horticultural Societies. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. i increase in the number of varieties, which has 



{ made a selection of local lists, suited to the 



Centennial Exhibition of 187G, (Continued most diverse conditions of our gi*eat country, a 

 from page 223). — In tracing the progress of Apple- j possibility. At the nation's birth we had but 

 culture through the century,as exemplified by the | about a hundred varieties, and now we have over 

 ■exhibits, the most surprising suggestion is the , two thousand. Even in the time of Coxe, one 



