96 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXVI. 



Other Societies. — The Australasian Ornithologists' Union 

 has had, during the month, a very enjoyable " carap-out " in the 

 Port Lincoln district, South Australia, particulars of which will 

 appear in an early Emu. The Microscopical Society of Victoria, 

 to mark the opening of its second year, held a conversazione and 

 exhibition of objects in the upper hall of the Athenaeum on 

 Tuesday, 26th October, which was well attended. 



Flowers in Glass. — In the Selbome Magazine for September, 

 1909, Mary W. Porter gives an account of the making of the 

 " Ware Collection " of glass flowers in Harvard University. These 

 flowers are the result of years of patience and practice by Leopold 

 and Rudolph Blascka, two Bohemian glass workers, who have 

 made a specialty of natural history objects for many years. The 

 article reads almost like a fairy tale, as the following quotation 

 will show: — "The glass flowers are in sprays and clusters 

 precisely as one sees them in nature, and indeed the living flowers 

 seem to lie before one, so delicate and accurate is the workman- 

 ship displayed in them." " The importance of the collection 

 from an artistic or botanical point of view cannot be over- 

 estimated. With regard to its botanical accuracy, William Deane, 

 the botanist, says that it is positively startling. He examined 

 sixteen species by careful comparison, besides making a more 

 general observation of a large number. Take, for instance, 

 Aralia spinosa, L. : the building up of the complex inflorescence, 

 with its multitudinous minute flowers, is almost beyond belief. 

 In this cluster, with its flowers so small that their structure can 

 be seen only with a lens, while many of its buds, blossoms, and 

 developing fruit are so minute as to be indistinguishable to the 

 naked eye, I counted of buds, blossoms, and developing fruit, 

 from 2,500 to 3,000. And yet every flower has its five petals 

 and five alternating stamens with long filaments. I sought to 

 find on the under part of the cluster some flowers perhaps less 

 carefully done, as being practically out of sight, but they were all 

 equal in their perfection, the immense compound leaf shown, the 

 spines scattered irregularly along the stalk and midribs. Were 

 every specimen in the collection to be inverted the same accurate 

 work would be seen. Every plant tells the same story of nature 

 closely followed out, and I am glad to bear my testimony to the 

 almost magical work of Leopold and Rudolph Blascka." At the 

 present time 687 species of flowering plants are represented, 

 belonging to 520 genera and 147 natural orders ; the mornhology 

 (cross sections and other magnified details) is exhibited by 

 more than 2,500 details. All are true to colour, and Harvard 

 University is to be congratulated on being made the recipient 

 of such a marvellous collection, which, it is hoped, will be com- 

 pleted in two years' time. 



