General Notices. 225 



request, and hence they formed a decided feature in tlie exhibition. In 

 England the respective merits of our exhibitions are estimated by the 

 degree of excellence shown in cultivation in connection with bloom ; but 

 not one in ten of the plants staged at this show exhibited either charac- 

 teristic ; notwithstanding this, however, the display Avas both striking and 

 grand. 



The casino in •which the exhibition was held is a very large building, 

 and exquisitely adapted for such purpose at this season of the year ; for 

 during the period the plants were in it, the external temperature fell as low 

 as 14 degrees, Fahr. No injury, however, resulted, even to orchids, from, 

 this extreme cold. In the pilasters of the building flues are provided, and' 

 temporary stoves are placed in various directions ; a pipe is fixed to the' 

 stove, and then thrust into a small aperture in the flue ; these are kept 

 going night and morning, and an agreeable warmth is maintained. A few 

 minutes before the visitors are admitted, the pipes are drawn from the 

 apertures, and the stoves bodily removed, with an alacrity beyond all praise, 

 reminding one of the shifting of a scene in a theatre, so that the space for 

 promenading was left quite clear. The visitors were placed in a most 

 enjoyable atmosphere, in which they could examine the various productions- 

 with pleasure ; no cracking of tent poles was to be feared, neither were we 

 threatened by a northeaster or a tropical sirocco, which has consigned many 

 thousand 5*. tickets to the flames in London ; mud, boots and umbrellas 

 were at a discount ; ladies did not tremble for their last new bonnet, lience 

 every countenance beamed with happiness and pleasure. 



In order to understand how the exhibition is conducted, I may state that 

 each exhibitor has his plants arranged for the judges, or rather jury, by 

 Saturday morning, which day is devoted to deciding the prizes. On Sunr 

 day morning they are all staged and arranged, and everything is in order 

 by 1 o'clock, when the members of the Society and strangers are admitted. 

 On Monday and Tuesday the casino is opened to the public ; in no instance 

 is any money taken. The mode of deciding on the medals to be awarded 

 is very different from our system in England. Two sections are formed, 

 over which a president and secretary preside ; the first section, consisting 

 of 38 members from different parts of Europe, was presided over by Prince 

 Troubetzkoy, of St. Petersburgh ; and tlie second, of 32 members, by the 

 Duke d'Ursel, of Brussels. To each section is allotted its share of the 

 exhibitions, and it proceeds to examine them individually when this is done. 

 Their comparative merits are decided by ballot, and a day is occupied by 

 this process. As the subjects for show are brought to the casino they are 

 all severally numbered by the clerks, and the name of every plant is entered 

 in full. This is not only a necessary but an indispensable point, as on the 

 following morning the plants are grouped with a view to effective display 

 as a whole, independent of ownership ; and although it might appear that 

 great confusion would arise in thus separating them, such is not the case, 

 notwithstanding that the specimens exhibited amounted to no less than the 

 enormous number of 3800. The entire exhibition presented a much more 

 striking effect, and was perhaps more tasteful than any we are accustomed 

 VOL. XVIII. NO. V. 29 



