98 DR. V. MARTIUS 



description of house ; especially in those cases where the transi- 

 tion from one vital period into another is very energetic, and 

 where the state of rest is in consequence strongly marked. In 

 short, plants of very different periodicity should always be kept 

 apart from each other. 



16. In the reconstruction or arrangement of houses, the pro- 

 ductions of one and the same native couutiy ought, wherever 

 possible, to be assembled together. It is advantageous to go 

 beyond even the common classification of Cape of Good Hope 

 houses. New Holland houses, etc., and to establish single floral 

 regions, in separate buildings, or divisions of them. 



17. Whenever it is required to subdivide and accommodate a 

 house for different cultures, those plants which are nearest allied 

 in their life-periods ought to be grouped together ; while others, 

 which differ greatly on that point, should be kept farthest remote 

 from each other. 



1 8. In selecting the proper site in a given locality, the first 

 consideration should be, whether the intended building admits of 

 being erected at right angles to the meridian, or at what declina- 

 tion from it ; and consequently, what light can be obtained at 

 certain times of the year, or the day. So likewise must attention 

 be paid to the peculiarities of the climate in which the garden is 

 situated, in apportioning the different localities in the building 

 itself. Under this head comes especially the direction of the pre- 

 vailing winds at different seasons, by which the temperature of one 

 or the other aspect of the house may become particularly lowered. 



1 9. Accordiiig to the nature of the plants in the house and its 

 subdivisions, the amount of moisture given to them by various 

 contrivances must be regulated. The antiquated terms hot and 

 moist, hot and dry, cold and moist, cold and dry, find an appli- 

 cation here to some extent ; for example, plants from dry places 

 require being heated exclusively by means of hot air conveyed in 

 pipes, while others are best suited by tubes conveying hot 

 water, or by a regulated admission of warm vapours. On these 

 important differences depend the terms of dry and damp stoves 

 (to which latter belong those for Orchidea) ; but as we become 

 nearer acquainted with the wants of certain families and floras, 

 according to the degree and periodicity of a variety of influences, 

 we shall have to proceed further in these subdivisions ; and this 

 points out, that the cultivation of Orchidece, Ferns, Bromeliaceo', 

 AroidefB, ScitaminefB, etc. ought, as far as practicable, to be kept 

 asunder. 



