FOREIGN AJVD MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



In such cases we must wake up the public lethargy by focts. And here is one of them 

 We have before us the History of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital. Some years ago, this 

 building, erected in the common way, without the slightest regard to ventilation, was 

 found to exhibit a great amount of mortality among the young children born there. In 

 four successive years — healthy seasons too — out of 7,050 infants brought forth in the hos- 

 pital, 2,244 died within the first fortnight after birth, of convulsions, or what the nurses 

 call nine-days fits. These children foamed at the mouth; the jaws became firmly closed; 

 the face swelled and assumed a purplish hue, as though the}^ were choking. " This last 

 circumstance suggested to the physician that a deficiency of wholesome air was connected 

 with the great mortality." Air pipes were immediately contrived; the various rooms were 

 well ventilated. What was the result? That in the three following years, out of 4,243 

 children born in that hospital, only 165 died. In the very same rooms, too, where, ac- 

 cording to the old ratio, before the ventilation took place, the number of deaths to that 

 number of children, would have been 1,632. To save the lives of more than 1,400 human 

 beings in three years, by merely putting in a few pipes! Can any one say there is noth- 

 ing in ventilation, after such facts as these? 



/nrrigE anli 3Hkpllnnfnii5 JMltm. 



Foreign Garden Gleanings. — (St. Pe- 

 TERSBURGH. — Florists. — Among the different 

 florists of St. Petersburgh, M. Alwarch, a Ger- 

 man, stands first. He cultivates nothing but 

 those plants wliicli are univer.sally sought after 

 in Russia, viz: good evergreen shrubs and 

 bushes. These plants, which are brought into 

 Russia in pots, are sold in large quantities to 

 the nobility, who, in winter, and the commence- 

 ment of the fine season, use them for the inter- 

 nal decoration of their houses. We may men- 

 tion more especially Gardenia florida; Ixora 

 coccinea and others ; Lantana ; Musa ; .^Eschy- 

 nanthus ; Asclepias curassiviea and Hoya car- 

 nosa ; Echinum ; Gesnera ; all of which are 

 cheaper in St. Petersburgh than in Paris. Such 

 is not the case with the hundred-leaved, crested, 

 four-seasons, and Belladonna Roses, which, 

 when in flower, fetch 2s. 6d. and 5s. The Myr- 

 tle-leaved and Chinese Orange trees are also 

 very dear, as are also Pelargoniums and Fuch- 

 sias. Franciscea odorata, and Hopeana, are 

 great favorites; Begonias and Gloxinias cost 

 half as much again as they do in France. Ca- 

 mellias and North American Azaleas fetch most 

 extravagant prices. The same gentleman has a 

 large collection of Rhododerdron ponticum 

 maximum , and other species ; but we look in 

 vain for out-door Azaleas, Calceolarias, from 

 Chili, or Cacti from Tropical America. As for 

 Myrtles, Pomegranates, Laurels, Jasmines, 

 climbing Roses, Dahlias, Pinks, and Spanish 

 Jasmines, they are rare and costly. 



Besides evergreen shrubs, M. Alwarch culti- 

 ates, though upon a smaller scale, out-door 

 shrubs. We jirincipally noticed some bushy 

 capable of resisting the severe frosts of 



the country, such as Cornus mascula, alba and 

 sanguinea; Elders; Spiraea Iseavigata. rosea, 

 and ulmifolia; common Lilacs; Chamaj cera- 

 sus. Snowdrops, Snowberries, Service trees, 

 Sweet Chestnuts, Pteleas, Poplars, especially 

 the true sweet-scented suaveolens; Caragana, 

 \vith which beautiful undulating hedges are 

 made; the charming red-fruited Acer tatari- 

 cum; Buckthorns, and particularly the one 

 from Tartary, which constitutes a large part of 

 the live hetlges in the country ; lastly, Cratae- 

 gus purpurea, with its handsome foliage, fiir 

 surpassing in color that of Cr. alba. The lat- 

 ter plant attracted my especial attention ; its 

 beauty, the rapidity of its growth, 'and other 

 excellent qualities, enable the Russians to make 

 live hedges, which we should very much like to 

 see introduced into our own country. 



Flower Markets. — One of the first things 

 which strikes a stranger entering St. Peters- 

 burgh, is the evident pas.sion which all the inha- 

 bitants, rich and poor, old and young, have for 

 flowei-s. 



The eye admires, with surpri.se and de- 

 light, the halls and rooms of all classes, 

 which, for eight or nine months in the year, are 

 more like conservatories than the interior of 

 common dwelling-houses ; being gay with plants 

 of every clime, whilst out of doors the country 

 is desolated by the severity of the cold. In-doors 

 we find Palms and Figs, Musas, Dracfienas, Ma- 

 rantas, the larg-e leaved Arums, Camellias, Rho- 

 dodendrons and Azaleas; also some beautiful 

 Leguminosfc, Mimosas, Cytisus in pots, Myrtles 

 of all sorts, Olea fragrans, the large Cleth 

 different sorts of Laurel; and lastly, but 

 conspicuous, are the hundred-leaved and 



