132 ABOUT ORCHIDS. 
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and green spots are dotted all over. The lobes of 
the lip curl in, making half the circumference of a 
funnel, the outside of which is dark violet-blue ; 
with that fine colour the lip itself. is boldly striped. 
They tell me that the public is not expected to 
“catch on” to this marvel. It hangs its head too 
low, and the contrast of hues is too startling. If 
that be so, we multiply schools of art and County 
Council lectures perambulate the realm, in vain. 
The artistic sense is denied us. 
Madagascar also will furnish some astonishing 
novelties; it has already begun, in fact—with a 
vengeance. Imagineascarlet Cymbidium! That 
such a wonder existed has been known for some 
years, and three collectors have gone in search of 
it; two died, and the third has been terribly ill 
since his return to Europe—but he won the treasure, 
which we shall behold in good time. Those parts 
of Madagascar which especially attract botanists 
must be death-traps indeed! M. Léon Humblot 
tells how he dined at Tamatave with his brother 
and six compatriots, exploring the country with 
various scientific aims. Within twelve months he 
was the only survivor. One of these unfortunates, 
travelling on behalf of Mr. Cutler, the celebrated 
naturalist of Bloomsbury Street, to find butter- 
flies and birds, shot at a native idol, as the report 
