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orchids, the chiet being the large gold medal, value 15, and the 

 gold Knightian medal, value 10, other medals being offered for 

 smaller collections, and the result was some beautiful displays of 

 well-grown plants, Aerides and Saccolabiums being especially well 

 represented at that time. The leading trade exhibitors were 

 Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, and Rollissons of Tooting, both of 

 whom were paying great attention to the orchid family, and 

 forming vast collections. 



In the course of 1853 large numbers of plants were collected 

 by Warscewicz, on the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes, in a 

 country that had previously been unexplored. Amongst these 

 were many valuable treasures, which were eagerly purchased by 

 the amateur and trade orchidists at high prices. Several im- 

 portant works upon orchids had appeared by this time, such as 

 Bateman's Orchidaceous Plants of Mexico and Guatemala, and 

 Lindley's Genera and Species of Orchids (1830-1840), and in 1854 

 the " Pescatorea " was commenced, with it being connected 

 such men as Linden, Liiddeman, Planchon, and Reichenbach, all 

 names of note in the orchid world. Linden, at Brussels and 

 Ghent, had formed large collections. Liiddeman had charge of 

 M. Pescatore's collection at Paris, and Reichenbach was rising 

 high in fame as a skilled botanist. The last mentioned has for 

 many years worked most assiduously amongst the orchids, he 

 has devoted a life time to their study, and no one at the present 

 time has such a competent knowledge of the family as he. Un- 

 fortunately his writings are much scattered, and we do not 

 possess what many earnestly desire a full botanical elaboration 

 of the order from his pen. In 1855-6 and 7 some important collec- 

 tions were dispersed, of which Mr. Schroder's, Loddiges', and 

 that of the London Horticultural Society, were the principal, and 

 some probably thought that " the orchid passion " was declining, 

 but this was far from being the case, as subsequent events 

 abundantly proved. 



Some reference has already been made to the expansion of 

 Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons' orchid collection, and it was brought 

 :still more prominently into notice in 1858, for it was then they 

 first exhibited a hybrid orchid. This was Calanthe Dominii, 

 the result of a cross between C. Masuca and C. furcata, 

 obtained by Mr. Dominy, foreman at the Exeter nursery, and ex- 

 hibited at the Crystal Palace, September 8th and gth, 1858. 

 With it were shown several hybrid Cattleyas, between C. Harri- 

 soniae and C. granulosa, which also attracted much attention. 

 Remarking upon these in the " Cottage Gardener," Mr. Beaton 

 said, "There is not the slightest doubt about Oncidiums, Dendro- 

 biums, Epidendrums, and all the great families sporting like 

 Calceolarias ; nor that nine-tenths of the pride of botanists the 

 species are mere seedling varieties, which get fixed in time by 



