HOT ORCHIDS. 157 
snow-white, and Pk, speciosa, purple, in the 
Andamans, when he was Governor of that settle- 
ment, clinging to low bushes along the mangrove 
creeks. So far as I know, all the species dwell 
within breath of the sea, as it may be put, where 
the atmosphere is laden with salt; this gives a 
hint to the thoughtful. Mr. Partington, of 
Cheshunt, who was the most renowned cultivator 
of the genus in his time, used to lay down salt 
upon the paths and beneath the stages of his 
Phalcenopsis house. Lady Howard de Walden 
stands first, perhaps, at the present day, and her 
gardener follows the same system. These plants, 
indeed, are affected, for good or ill, by influences 
too subtle for our perception as yet. Experiment 
alone will decide whether a certain house, or a 
certain neighbourhood even, is agreeable to their 
taste. It is a waste of money in general to make 
alterations ; if they do not like the place they 
won't live there, and that’s flat! It is probable 
that Maidstone, where Lady Howard de Walden 
resides, may be specially suited to their needs, 
but her ladyship’s gardener knows how to turna 
lucky chance to the best account. Some of his 
plants have ten leaves!—the uninitiated may 
think that fact grotesquely undeserving of a note 
of exclamation, but to explain would be too 
