480 I Assembly 



now see what my son, Louis Neuman, states to me from Belgium, 

 where he has lately passed some days : 



" On entering the garden of M. Donkelaer, the Director, he 

 conducted me to his Victoria, which he kept in a small frame of 

 double slope. An alley in the middle of the frame divided it 

 into two patches. On the right side was a basin about twelve 

 feet long by five wide and three deep: his basin was oblong 

 bowl-shaped. The temperature of the water in it ordinary 

 warmth — not more than 53° Fahrenheit. 



"Mr. Donkelaer explained this as follows: — He had treated 

 this plant for a long time, and he says, that when a row of tubes 

 had been placed on the bottom of the basin, in order to warm the 

 water, after having used them three or four times, at moments 

 when the surrounding temperature was too low, he finished by 

 not using them at all, and found the plants growing just as read- 

 ily as before. 



. " He remarks, also, that the plants we have are mere dwarfs 

 compared with his, one of the leaves of his measuring four feet 

 and-a-half in diameter, and will be larger. I forgot to say, that 

 the small wheel which he had used to agitate the water, had at 

 first been laid by in a corner of the house. I would advise the 

 covering of the plant at night with a cloth or something else." 



Since Clusius, the researches of travelers, historical testimony, 

 the comparative study of the religions of India and ancient 

 Egypt, have confirmed the views of one of the most illustrious 

 botanists as to its re-discovery. 



The name jSfelumbo is the one it bears in the island of Ceylon: 

 Jussieu called it Nelumbium. This plant is regarded as sacred 

 by many of the sects of India, China and Japan, where, in the 

 eyes of the Budhist Priests, it is a7i emblem of the world 7-ising out 

 of the waters. They cultivate it in precious vases to ornament 

 their temples and altars. We find it represented, now a days, m 

 all the paintings wliich come from India and China. Egypt once 

 had it and bestowed upon it particular attention, but like the 

 famed bird Ibis it disappeared with the old religion, which prob- 



