290 review; 



potu, accepit !' In Mexico, where the ' language oi' flowers' is understood by 

 all, the Orchidacese seem to compose nearly the entire alphabet. Not an 

 infant is baptised, not a marriage is celebrated, nor a funeral obsequey per- 

 formed, at which the, aid of these llowers is not called in by the sentimental 

 natives, to assist the expression of their feelings. They are oti'ered by the 

 devotee at the shrine of his favourite saint ; by the lover, at the feet of his 

 mistress ; and by the sorrowing survivor, at the grave of his friend ; whether, 

 in short, on fast days or feast days, on occasions of rejoicing, or in moments 

 of distress, these llowers are sou»ht for with an avidity which would seem to 

 say that there was no sympathy like theirs ; — thus ' Flor de los Santos,' ' Hor 

 de Corpus,' ' Flor de los Muertos,' ' Flor de Maio,' ' No me Elvides' (or forget 

 me not), are but a few names out of the many that might be cited to prove 

 the high consideration in which our favourites are held in the New World. 

 Nor are these the only honours that are paid to them; for Hernandez assures 

 us that, in Mexico, the Indian chiefs set the very highest value on their blos- 

 soms, for the sake of their great beauty, strange tigure, and delightful 

 perfume; while in the East Indies, if Rumphius is to be credited, the flowers 

 themselves positively refuse to be worn, except by princesses or ladies of 

 high rank. In Honduras, again, the large, hollow, cylindrical stalks of a fine 

 species of Epidendrum are made into trumpets by the little boys and girls of 

 the country ; and the pseudo-bulbs of several of the more succulent species 

 are used instead of resin for the strings of their guitars. The following are, 

 however, almost the only known instances in which the tribe do any direct 

 service to mankind. The bulbs of Maxillaria bicolor contain a large quantity 

 of an insipid watery fluid, which is greedily sucked by the poor native of 

 Peru in the dry season. A fluid of a similar nature is obtained from what is 

 probably a la-lia in Mexico, and is administered as a cooling draught in 

 fevers. From the roots of some of the orchises, even in Europe, the nutri- 

 tive substance called 'salep' is obtained; in New Zealand, certain species, 

 are of considerable importance as esculents ; and, in Guiana, the soles of the 

 .shoemaker are much indebted to the viscid matter obtained from the catase ■ 

 turns and cvrtopoiliums, as are the poisoned arrows of the Indian. In this 

 list the vanilla is not included, as that plant has recently been separated 

 (no doubt, most judiciously) by Dr. Lindley Irom the natural order Orchi- 

 daceie, and constituted the type of a new order of its own." (page 3.) 



The Drawings, Engravings, Colouring, &c. are in a very su- 

 perior style; Every admirer of this truly interesting and beauti- 

 ful flowering tribe of plants, who can afford the expense, ought 

 to possess a copy of the work. 



AGAVE AMERICANA. 



We understand that the fine specimen of this magnificent exotic in the 

 ladies' flower-garden at Clowance, the seat of Sir John St. Aubyn. Bart , 

 is now in a state of blossoming, and upwards of two thousand ol the flowers 

 are expanded ; and so richly are these blossoms supplied with honey, that it 

 actually drops from them. From the vast number of flower buds, there is 

 no doubt but this curious and interesting flower will continue in bloom for 

 the space of five or six weeks. No fewer than one thousand three hundred 

 and si - Uy pprsons have already seen and admired this most beautiful plant, 

 and wc have every reason to believe many hundreds more will be added to 

 the number. (fFest Briton, October 6, J887.) 



