62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND 



Orchids, but would rather have Champagne ! ! An- 

 other liked The Spectahile (he meant : C ypripedium 

 spectabile), with Mrs. Menand's Punch, flavored with 

 cherry bounce (cherries preserved in brandy). Another 

 said he would like to see pretty Orchids, sweet scented, 

 very fragrant, fasten on the bosom of a pretty young 

 woman, and been allowed to smell them on that spot, 

 so you see how tastes differed. I suppose you would 

 like to know what I preferred ? primo : I preferred 

 my " phanerogyne " secundo : I like BOTH, the whole 

 Cypripedium family, and all the other genera spoken of 

 above Odontoglossum .... Cattleya, etc., etc. ... I for- 

 got I like also good Sauterne Wine, and I do not dis- 

 like Champagne nor any good company, this to my mind 

 is preferable to all the others, but both good company 

 and good refreshment will complete the festival, 

 and make a man happy if he is a man who can con- 

 trol his will. And here I must say that during sev- 

 eral years we kept together, I never saw one out 

 of the way of decency but once. We were almost 

 all present at the meeting. We had to welcome a lot 

 of New Orchids and other plants arrived from Eng- 

 land. Among them was a variegate species of Agave 

 that will deserve a special notice that I probably shall do 

 if I live long enough. On that remarkable day in the 

 history of our Club we irrigated so much our no- 

 tions that when night came and we had to return to 



