4-30 Prof. Schultes on the 



tisfy himself that it is not all a phantasmagoria. — We had the 

 honour of being present at a meeting of the Society in Sep- 

 tember 1824, and we must confess that although conversant 

 with the rearing of fruit for almost forty years, we had never 

 beheld finer peaches, nectarines, plums, melons, grapes and 

 pine-apples, than we saw here. We had been nmch disap- 

 pointed in the London fruit-markets, where we certainly saw 

 uncommonly fine-looking fruit ; but on tasting, found them to 

 be acid or insipid, compared with the produce of our southern 

 hemisphere, in Tyrol, the South of Fi-ance, and Lower Hun- 

 gary : but after having enjoyed the flavour of the fruit here 

 presented to us, it was easier for us to abandon our prejudices 

 against this kind of English produce, than to conceive how so 

 northern and foggy a climate could have bi'ought to perfection 

 such rich fruit; how Art has thus overcome the omnipotence 

 of Nature. 



The Horticultural Society possesses a very valuable pomo- 

 logical and botanical library, with a beautiful collection of 

 models in wax of fruits, and two volumes of drawings made 

 in China of native plants. The well-known Mr. Lindley, to 

 whose kindness we owed our admission to the Society's collec- 

 tions, superintends here the botanical business of this establish- 

 ment, and resides therefore at Turnham Green. Mr. Lindley 

 is also engaged in several botanical publications, among which 

 is the Botanical Register, in which he executes the work of 

 Mr. Bellender Ker, alias Mr. Gawler, whose very bad health 

 has compelled him to reside for some time at Boulogne. 



In the same district with the two just-mentioned gardens, — 

 namely at Chelsea, south-west of London, — is the celebrated 

 Hortus Chelseanus, at one time under the direction of Miller, 

 and particularly designed for the culture of officinal plants. 

 Mr. Don was so obliging as to introduce us to the present 

 curator, Mr. Anderson, a very amiable, open-hearted old man, 

 who received us with Scottish kindness. Sloane's statue orna- 

 ments this garden, which possessing neither great size nor 

 beauty, and still less elegance, yet includes, among the six 

 thousand plants there cultivated, many very rare officinal vege- 

 tables, some which are to be found nowhere else. He who 

 would here study botany has a rich field open to him, its value 

 enhanced by Mr. Anderson's experienced remarks. There 

 are standing in this garden, like twin brothers, two noble ce- 

 dars planted by Miller's own hand ; a Pistacia Lentisais grow- 

 ing against a wall, and which he had raised from seed ; and a 

 Platamis, whose growth has made an increase of sixteen feet in 

 circumference since the time of Miller. I saw here all the three 

 species of Platamis, and was surprised at hearing that tlie 



Occidental 



