STORY OF PHALAENOPSIS SANDERIANA 



The discovery of Phalaenopsis Sanderiana was an interesting 

 event ; nor for botanists alone. Some thoughtful persons 

 always incline to credit a legend or an assertion current 

 among savages, so long as it deals with facts within the 

 limits of their knowledge. Human beings are truthful by 

 instinct ; and if we can assure ourselves that no motive 

 tempts them to falsehood, it is more likely than not that 

 even an improbable story will prove correct. The rule 

 applies in all matters of natural history. Numberless are 

 the reports concerning beasts and birds and reptiles accepted 

 now which were a mock for generations ; numberless, also, 

 one must add, are the reports too grotesque for discussion. 

 For imagination asserts itself in the case of animals, and 

 gives a motive, though unconscious, for the wildest inven- 

 tions. But it is rarely excited by plants. When a savage 

 describes some flower he has seen, the statement may be 

 trusted, ' barring errors ' ; and they will probably be slight, 

 for his power of observation, and his memory in matters of 

 this sort, are alike wonderful. A collector of plants who 

 knows his business encourages the natives to talk ; often 

 enough they give him valuable information. The first hint 

 of Calla Pentlandii, the yellow Egyptian lily or ' arum,' was 

 furnished by a Zulu who came from a great distance to visit 

 a relative in the service of Captain Allison. I may venture 

 to tell secrets which will be common property soon. A blue 



