THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 235 



The following is an extract from a letter written 

 by Dr. Arnold himself: 



" Arrived at Pulo Lebbar, on the banks of the river 

 Manna, I delighted in the anticipation of reporting to 

 you that I had discovered what is, possibly, the most 

 surprising prodigy that exists in the vegetable wc-rld. 

 I had gone aside for some little distance, when one of 

 my Malay servants ran up to me with astonishment, 

 marked on his features, and exclaimed : ' Come here, 

 sir, come and see a new flower very large, magnifi- 

 cent, extraordinary.' I went to the place to which 

 the Malay directed me. " 



And there to his astonishment he saw this colossus 

 of the floral world. He had it cut and carried to his 

 residence, where it was the astonishment of every one. 

 It was examined, studied and copied, and it was from 

 the sketch taken on that occasion that we give our il- 

 lustration of the Rafflesia Arnoldi. 



The five magnificent petals that spring from the 

 centre are of a beautiful orange yellow ; in the centre 

 of the calyx, upon a dark violet ground, rises a huge 

 pistil, looking like a blaze in a bowl of punch. 

 This prodigious flower is a yard wide, the petals are 

 a foot in length, and stand at a distance of nearly a 

 foot from each other. The nectarine or honey-cup 

 looks large enough to contain a dozen pints, and the 

 weight of the whole thing is given at 15 pounds. 



