Retrospective Criticism. 105 



of which word commentators are not agreed, but it was ancient Latin, and 

 not derived from {.iovoq (moiios), one, nor imported from Greece), are of the 

 same genuine stock. — Ferjnice. October, 1828. 



il/?-. Knighi's Improvements in the Construction of Hot-beds. — Sir, In vol. vii. 

 partii. art. 32. of the Horticultural Transactions, is a communication by the 

 learned president of the Society, giving an account of the improvements in 

 the construction of hot-beds. I have often observed that many inventions 

 and discoveries are, in these days of knowledge, detailed as new and original, 

 which have been long known and practised by scientific men in former 

 times. In a book published two humlred years ago, in black letter, called 

 Alexis''s Secrets, h a clear and detailed account of the manner of increasing 

 the muibeny tree, by cuttings of the great arms and limbs of the old tree, 

 and planting them in rows, in beds, as we do asparagus. I could mention 

 twenty instances of inventions and discoveries in horticulture and planting, 

 which were known and adopted by our ancestors, and which have been 

 republished in Transactions and Magazines, with all the freshness of a new 

 discovery. But I have met with nothing so original as Mr. Knight's above- 

 mentioned communication, and which trespasses so much on modern times, 

 and on the fame of former philosophers. I beg to refer the reader to a 

 paper of Dr. Stephen Hales, published in 1757, in vol. xxvii. of the 

 Gentleman's Magazine, p. 165. He will there read "A rational and easy 

 Method to purify Air, and regulate its Heat in Melon-Frames and hot 

 Green-houses ; " and he will wonder that Mr. Knight did not communicate 

 the whole of the valuable paper, instead of an extnict. I am, Sir, } ours, &c, 

 — F. R. S. 



^^'e have not the least doubt the omission was an inadvertence on the part 

 of Mr. Knight, or the editor of the Transactions. Such inadvertencies are 

 quite unavoidable, both in the Transactions of Societies, and in Magazines 

 and Journals ; but the great advantage the latter have over the former is, 

 that corrections and discussions on all points are freely admitted. In this 

 waj', error and false doctrine, if promulgatetl in one Magazine, is corrected 

 or counteracted in that which follows ; and the reader will generally be 

 found to have benefited by the discussion ; but, in the Transactions of a 

 Societ}', discussion is not permitted (See Dr. Thomson's paper, in our P'irst 

 Volume, p. 20., which was originally sent to theHort.Soc.,and rejected), and 

 errors or mistaken views remain to lead astray, as long as such Transactions 

 are read. The Transactions of the Horticultural Society have, however, one 

 advantage in this respect, viz. that, from their high price, they are not likely 

 to be read by practical men ; and, therefore, if it were possible that such a 

 thing as an error should creep into them, it would do little harm. — Cond. 



Plagiarism by the Author of the Article signed " A Blooming Bulb." — In 

 your Gardener's Magazine for October, you have given the cultivation of 

 Amaryllis by " A Blooming Bulb." If you will look to my accounts of the 

 treatment of them in the Botaniccd Cultivator, and the First Number of your 

 IVIagazine, you will perceive the greater part to be taken from them. The 

 mode of raising them, and shifting them, as they advance in growth, into 

 larger pots, is fully described there, likewise their being kept on a gentle 

 hot-bed ; but with plunging them, if the bed be hot or moist, I entirely dis- 

 agree, as it would be apt to melt or rot their fleshy roots. The use of horse- 

 dung in the soil will certainly have the same effect, if fresh; but, if allowed 

 to rot for two or three years, and then to be dried, it might do very well 

 for lightening the soil, and would answer as a substitute for peat or other 

 light mould. Your correspondent also mentions Mr. Colville as having 

 raised three or four hundred hybrids of them. If he had said ten thousand, 

 he would have been nearer the truth. I sowed the seeds and potted them 

 off myself, and 1 have frequently seen several hundreds in flower at his 

 nursery at once, some of them producing the most splendid flowers imagin- 



