410 NOTICES OF THE MEETINGS [March 17, 
be procured by any one in a long walk or a very short railway 
ride out of London. 
The Lecturer, in the next place, alluded to the application of the 
“cases” in promoting what he termed the ‘‘ esthetics ” of the sick- 
room; and showed how important it was, in the treatment of 
chronic diseases and during the period of convalescence from 
others, to endeavour to dissipate morbid feelings and divert atten- 
tion from still lingering symptoms by the cheering presence of 
things of beauty. In the chamber of the invalid, these cases 
presented an advantage over plants exposed in the ordinary way, 
because they confined those exhalations from flowers, which, 
agreeable as they may be to sense, are frequently prejudicial to 
the patient. At the suggestion of Mr. Burch, the resident medi- 
cal officer of the London Hospital, some money had been col- 
lected for the construction of cases to be placed in the wards of 
that hospital. 
In the conveyance of useful plants from one country to another, 
the plan has been of signal benefit to mankind. Formerly plants 
were packed in moss in boxes, or allowed to grow during the voyage, 
and, in consequence, a large proportion of them died. Now, the 
same arrangement which protected them from noxious influences in 
large towns, was found available in preserving the plants during 
long voyages from the salt spray and rough winds, from ex- 
tremes of heat and cold, in admitting the light, and retaining the 
water which, on ship-board, is often a valuable commodity. In 
1833 two cases, filled with British plants, were entrusted to Captain 
Mallard, who engaged to follow out directions, and take them with 
him to Sydney. When they arrived, after four or five months, at 
their place of destination, the plants were in full health, and a prim- 
rose which was in flower created no little sensation among the colo- 
nists. ‘They were refilled with Australian plants, which reached 
England in perfectly good condition, and some of which had never 
been seen alive before in this country. From this time the plan 
became gradually adopted, in this and other countries, for the trans- 
port of plants. One or two examples will show the benefit it has 
conferred in this respect. The late Mr. Williams, the Missionary, 
on leaving this country in 1839 took with him a plant of banana, 
so important in the food which it furnishes to man, and introduced 
it into one or two of the Navigator Islands, where it was previously 
unknown. Mr. Fortune conveyed twenty thousand tea-plants in these 
cases in safety and perfect health from Shanghae to the Himalayas. 
Some of the finest palms that now decorate our large conservatories 
could not have been brought over to this country, but for Mr. 
Ward’s invention ; for even ‘the seeds of these plants, in consequence 
of the oily matter which they contain, become decomposed when 
brought over in the ordinary way. They are now placed in the 
mould in a closed case; germination takes place during the voyage, 
and the young palm is found to be developed on arrival at the place 
