Domestic Notices : — England. 99 



error of the designer of the garden, whoever he may have been, lies in his 

 not having directed the planting of trees of various species to gvovf up, and 

 take place of the elms ; the latter to be cut down as the former became fit 

 to succeed them. Such trees might have been procured 20 ft. high, of 

 upwards of 100 suitable sorts, from the arboretum of Messrs. Loddiges, at 

 Hackney ; and I mention this nursery garden, because it is about as much 

 in the London smoke as the grounds at Pimlico are. But it would appear 

 that the common stuffing of shrubberies has been thought quite good 

 enough, both for the Pimlico gardens and the recently planted groups at 

 St. .James's Park. 



In the upper part of the grounds, immediately within the ornamental 

 archway, is the notorious pond or reservoir, 100 ft. in diameter, and 30 ft. 

 deep, built of brick laid in cement. This is, perhaps, as useless a work as 

 ever was planned or executed, since it was intended only for receiving a 

 portion of the water of the Serpentine River on its way to the new piece 

 of water near the palace. Had it been necessary to raise the water to a 

 higher level, or had there been any scarcity of water, there might have been 

 some excuse for forming a reservoir : as things are, I defy its architect, let 

 him be who he will, to point out any useful object whatever gained by this 

 pond. As a proof that I am correct, the pond is now nearly empty ; the 

 supply to the lake at the palace merely running in by one pipe near the 

 top, and running out by another pipe near the bottom. 



The Roman archway, intended as the royal entrance of a road to which 

 this reservoir forms an insuperable interruption, is, in my opinion, much 

 too gorgeous a pile for the taste of the present day. Let this, however, be 

 considered a matter of opinion. As the arch was erected after the reser- 

 voir was completed, there must have been some strange neglect somewhere 

 to have occasioned such an absurdity. On these two works upwards of 

 20,000/. must have been expended; and it is clear that neither of them is 

 of the slightest use. — ./. W. L. Nov. 11. 1830. 



Jioiii^e Plant and Guaco Plant. — Dr. Hamilton has received a letter 

 from Mr. D. Fanning, the proprietor of the botanic garden at Caraccas, 

 including some rare seeds from that country, among which was one, a Con- 

 volvulus, which furnishes a striking example of the great power of vege- 

 tation within the tropics, as Mr. Fanning mentions his having trained it 

 5000 ft. in the space of six months. Some seeds of a most beautiful Cro- 

 talaria, and a few seetls of the Rivin« tinctoria, or rouge plant, which can- 

 not fail to come into high rejjute among the fair dames of fashion. It is 

 believed by the secretary to be a nondescript species ; and he has, there- 

 fore, given it the provisional name of tinctoria, from its peculiar properties, 

 as a means of distinguishing it till an opportunity offers of determining it 

 botanically. It is nuich used as rouge by the ladies of Caraccas, one berry 

 being sufficient for the service of the toilet at one time. It possesses two 

 qualities which will strongly reconmiend its use in preference to any of the 

 rouges commonly employed, that of not injuring the natural complexion, 

 and that of not being affected or obliterated by perspiration, while its 

 colour equals that of the finest carmine. From the account given by Mr. 

 Fanning, we should conceive this fine pigment capable of being usefully 

 employed in the arts. A few of the seeds have been given to Mr. Pontey. 

 Dr. Hamilton is promised a supply of twelve bottles of the juice of the 

 Guaco plant, so celebrated as an antidote to tiie poison of snakes, and an 

 infallible cure for gout, rheumatism, and a multitude of other distressing 

 maladies. The abundance of this supply will enable it to be tried upon a 

 large scale. It may be expected by the first vessel from La Guayra that 

 touches at Cowes. (^Pli/niouth Juurnal, Sept. IG.) 



Seeds of the Palo de Vara, or Milk Tree, and of the Guaco (the Mikania 

 Guaco Hort. Brit. p. 333.) have recently been sent home by Sir R. K. 

 Porter to the Misses Porter, the distinguished authoresses, at Esher. These 



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