THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



have a raspberry which is three times the thickness 

 of an adult's thumb and four times the thickness of 

 a lady's finger. We were about to note that this 

 variety must be "a whopper," when the editorial 

 eye caught sight of a "testimonial" from a promi- 

 nent horticulturist It says: "the hand with rasp- 

 berries is a good representation of the variety — 

 only that they do not show full size — they are 

 larger." We thought a berry three inches in 

 diameter — nine inches in circumference- — ought to 

 satisfy any one, but if it is to be larger than this, 

 oh ! goodness. But we fancy there was a merry 

 twinkle in the eye when this "testimonial" was 

 dashed off. 



Hot Water Circulation in the Olden 

 Time. — During a visit of the writer of this to the 

 Isle of Wight, in 1877, the remains of an old 

 Roman villa were being exhumed, near Newport. 

 It had been covered by the gravitation of the soil 

 during near two thousand years. If there be the 

 slightest inclination, every rain causes a movement 

 of the surface downwards, and though the surface 

 be nearly level, a ruin below the highest point, but 

 a few acres away, will become covered in time, 

 though never an earth-worm had been called into 

 being. The uncovering of these ruins, exposed 

 the remains of the ancient baths. The warmed 

 water flowed through cemented channels. By an 

 Isle of Wight paper, we note that another of these 

 old villas has been unearthed, some four miles 

 from the one above referred to. The "puzzle," in 

 the extract given below, could also be explained 

 in all probability, on the theory of the circulation 

 of warm water through a hot-water bath : 



"Some new discoveries have been made at Brad- 

 ing which will not only excite much interest, but 

 also become a puzzle to the archaeologist. The first 

 is a large square mass of masonry about four yards 

 on each side. In the center is a square depression, 

 the bottom of which is paved with a large flag. 

 The walls enclosing it are over three feet thick. 

 At the bottom of the wall are spouts, evidently for 

 the purpose of letting off some liquid. The most 

 probable suggestion is that it is a cochlea, or press, 

 but whether used as a clothes press or an oil press 

 is doubtful. Near this is a curious structure, one 

 part composed ot a long narrow enclosure, while 

 another at right angles to it lorms a kind of circu- 

 lar enclosure. What was the purpose of this it is 

 impossible to say. At the other end of the villa 

 there has been laid bare a square room with a cir- 

 cular base of masonry in the center. This base 

 may be that of a nymphceum, which was used in 

 elegant houses for placing plants, shrubs, and 

 flowers upon. This part of the villa may have 

 been the entrance." 



The History of the Amaryllis. — In the 



Botanical Magazine it was an Amaryllis for a 

 period of about thirty-five years. Then it became 

 a Hippeastrum for a period of forty-five years. 

 But in describing a splendid species, discovered in 

 Peru by Messrs. Veitch and Sons' collector, Mr. 

 Pearce, in June, 1867, Sir J. D. Hooker named it 

 Amaryllis pardina. Having done so, he felt 

 bound to justify the proceeding, and he did so by 

 saying that the differences recognized by Herbert 

 were so slight and variable as to be of no practical 

 value. Therefore the original generic designation 

 was restored ; Linnaeus triumphed, and Amaryllis 

 is herself again. The introduction of A. pardina 

 opens a new chapter in the history of this flower. 

 Its name implies that it is spotted like the 

 leopard, but that quality is not much valued by 

 the florists. It is of more importance to say that 

 this flower is distinguished by great breadth of 

 petal and the absence of a funnel, a fact favorable 

 to the expansion of the flowers to a symmetrical 

 face. More than any of its race introduced up to 

 the year 1867, A. pardina stirred the blood of 

 florists and gave new zest to the labors of the 

 hybridists, who, however, soon discovered that, 

 with all its fine qualities, it is not the model for 

 breeding from that they would themselves have 

 created had they been permitted to assist in the 

 work of the third day as recorded in the Book 

 of Genesis. But the model was ready for all that ; 

 like many other desirable things, it was made with 

 the rest on the third day and remained to be dis- 

 covered. This was secured in Peru by Mr. Pearce. 

 It appears that the King of the Belgians, one of the 

 most generous and enlightened patrons of horti- 

 culture in this flowery world, admired the flower 

 when it was shown at South Kensington in the 

 year 1869, and it was named in honor of his visit 

 Amaryllis Leopoldi. It is as truly the king of the 

 Amaryllises as Lilium auratum is the queen of 

 Lilies. It possesses all the elements of a perfect 

 florist's flower in breadth of petal, depth of color, a 

 sharply defined star, and petals superbly tipped 

 with white or an approximation thereto. It is 

 sufficiently defective as a florists flower to aff'ord 

 work for the hybridist, and excitement to the 

 critics, and to give peculiar interest to the splendid 

 series of varieties that, chiefly by its aid, have been 

 raised by Messrs. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea. The 

 hybrids figured in the year 1865 in Van Houtte's 

 '' Flore des Serres" were, in a way, wonders of 

 their time, but we have got far beyond the flowers 

 with funnels and indefinite green stains, and look 

 for expanded flowers of the most perfect symmetry 

 both of form and color, and with novel markings 



