|. 28—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE, 
45% 
Seience, there remain some great difficulties in connec- 
tion with the idea of special creation. First, we should 
xe to suppose, as pointed out in my former volume, a 
most startling diversity of plan in. the divine workings, 
à great general plan or system of law in the leading 
events of world-making, and a plan of minute nice 
Operation, and special attention in some of the mere 
details of the process, The discrepancy between the 
two »ptions is surely p ing, when we allow 
Ourselves to see the whole matter in a steady and 
Yational light.” 
“Tt seems hardly conceivable that rational men 
Should give an adherence to. such a.doctrine, when we 
think of what it involves. In the single fact that it 
necessitates a special fiat of the inconceivable author of 
his sand-cloud of worlds to produce the flora of St. 
elena, we read its more than. sufficient condemnation. 
It surely harmonises far better with our general ideas 
Of nature, to suppose that, just as all else in this far- 
Spread scene was formed by the laws impressed on it at 
first by its author, so also was this. An exception pre- 
Sented to us in such a light, appears admissable only 
when we succeed in forbidding our minds to follow out 
those reasoning processes, to which, by another law of 
the Almighty, they tend, and for which they are 
adapted. As is well known, most of the large carnivores 
and pachyderms. of the late tertiary formations very 
Closely resemble existing species ; but they are, never- 
theless, determined to be distinet species by Professor 
TSS Ms oe 
01 
actual changes now. 
ria, or collections of dried plants to consult, such a 
question might be solved; but we believe that two | wi 
centuries are more than the age of any existing herba- 
rium, and in the absence of such evidence all is so un- 
certain that no argument can be built upon it. 
To what is taking place;around us we must look then. 
And we eannot say that we disbelieve the existence of 
We disbelieve it in theory ; but 
not in our conscience. For do we not find men boast- 
ing every year of their discoveries of new species by 
aths that have been trodden by acute observers for a 
thousand times? We have now before us an account 
of a new Avena called intermedia, just discovered in 
Sweden by Lindgren. The other day our well-known 
panded. In the stove, among other plants in bl 
este Ania AY ouk i-e wp Ie 
e P 
with large leafy panicles of white flowers; the usefal 
old Begonia nitida, whose rosy-white flowers are im 
beauty nearly all the year round; Gesnera. pellucida, 
a tall- growing species, with blush blossoms, and woolly 
leaves; Hibiscus flavescens, having double straw. 
coloured flowers ; the comparatively new Rhodostemme, 
gardenioides, wi t ted blossoms ; and .& eti- 
rious Achimenes, named A. alba, having: small tubular 
flowers, the tube dotted with black, the limb only beiag 
white ; it is a dwarf-growing variety, with broad: hairy 
leaves. In a smaller stove, Musseenda, macrophyile 
and. frondosa were in flower, whose large white -braets 
give them a. striking and interesting appearance; aud 
Glyceria fluitans was found to include: two species. A 
new species of Erodium has made its app at Pau. 
The Dean of Manchester has created new Nareissi, A 
new species of Melie has been lately found in Sicily by 
Parlatore. Smith speaks in 1824 of 9 Epilobiums, 3 
Heaths, 8 € i 10 Poly , aud P 
Rumices, as natives of Great Britain ; but Mr. Babing- 
ton now names 10, 6, 9, 15, and 13 of those genera re- 
spectively, Of course it will be said that these addi- 
tions are owing to the acuteness of modern observers, 
and that they do not show that new forms are appearing, 
but only that the forms had been previously overlooked, 
But surely that is begging the whole question; and we 
do not know that we are entitled to assert that botanists 
were so mole-eyed thirty years ago that their quick- 
wen and. other eminent auth in 
Certain peculiarities. "Ehe: pecularities are, in. general, 
trifling, such as differencesin the tubercles or groovings 
of the surface of teeth, or greater or less length of body 
or extremities ; but no matter of what, the differences 
Consist, Enough for the present that they are held by 
lr. Owen and his friends to be of that character which 
are never passed in. generation, but. necessarily imply a 
New creation, a separate effort of divine power. Now 
it so happens that all the tertiary species, or so-called 
Species, have not been changed or extirpated. There is 
a badger of the Miocene, which cannot be distinguished 
from the badger of the present: day. ur existing 
Meles taxus is, therefore, acknowledged by Mr. Owen 
to be * the oldest known species of mammal on the face 
of the earth? It: is in like manner i ible to dis- 
f | sighted 
have been able to add 25 per cent. to 
the number of ascertained species growing at their own 
doors. We at least cannot unconditionally accept 
such a vain-glorious dogma as the representative of 
truth—it may be sd—but where is the proof of it? 
We therefore submit that in this point of view the 
opinions of the “ Vestiges” must be held to be supported 
by recent evidence until some proof shall have been 
adduced to show that the evidence is worthless. 
And then with regard to successive stages of develop- 
ment visibly in progress now, can any botanist affirm 
that Cardamine parviflora is not. the first step towards 
C. hirsuta; nay, more, that Cardamine Chelidonii is not 
a form ad ing towards lonium majus? or that 
Ruppias are not Confervee in a condition of higher de- 
Cover any difference between the present wild. eat and 
thas which lived in the bone caves with the hyzna, 
rhinoceros, and tiger of the ante-drift era, all of which 
are said to be extinct species: So also the otter has 
Survived since an early period in the pliocene, while so 
Many larger animals were shifted. The learned 
anatomist takes occasion from these facts to,speak of a 
Survival by small and weak species of geological 
changes, which have been accompanied by the extirpa- 
Honma larger and more formidable animals of allied 
a The inference from the facts and doctrines of 
E s School is, that divine power has seen fit to change 
16 species of elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, and. bears, 
using special miracles to introduce new ones, one with 
Perhaps an additional tooth, another with a new tubercle 
9r cusp on the third molar, and so forth, while he has 
Seen no occasion for a similar interference with the 
Otter, wild eat, and badger, which accordingly have been 
left undisturbed in their obscurity. Such may be the 
belief of men of science, anxious to support.a theory ; 
but assuredly it will never be received by any ordinary 
men of fair understandings who may be able to read 
and comprehend the works of Mr. Owen. It were too 
mueh for even: a chila’s faith. Yet the Edinburgh 
reviewer, a member of this school, talks of “credulity!” 
Of course the author relies upon theevidence afforded 
by islands to support his doctrine. It is certainly true 
that the original flora of St. Helena is peculiar to 
itself ; and it is equally well ascertained that Australia, 
New Zealand, Juan Fernandez, the Gallapagos, &c. 
have each their own animal and vegetable productions 
Which occur nowhere else. Howisthat? The doctrine 
of the “Vestiges” seems to explainit. We do not say 
that no other will ; but such facts present great diffi- 
Culties in the way of a different interpretation. 
. After all, the weakest point of the * Vestiges ” consists 
W the absence of proof that new species are still appear- 
mg on the earth. Theauthor ought to produce evidence 
of it, if the views he entertains are just, or his theory 
falls 3 because the law of creation which he assumes to 
Tule the universe must be, and has been, ceaselessly in 
Action from the beginning of time. It can know no pause, 
Without pretending to say that such a fact ean be 
Made out, we must represent tothe consideration of our 
Teaderg a few circumstances which deserve to be 
thought upon. Among the more recent of the remains 
of ancient plants, whose impressions have been pre- 
Served in rocks, there are no species identical with our 
a though very like them. Take the impressions of 
aves found at Armissan, orat Aix in Provence, for an 
Miemple. There we have Poplars, Pines, Birches, and 
1 ornbeams, not. belonging to existing species. What 
AAS become of them? They have disappeared. But 
We still have Poplars, Pines, Birches, and Hornbeams, 
although not the same. Thus, then, one species has 
*eplaced another in even comparatively recent times. 
as not, it may be asked, the same change of species 
re going on ever since? The only honest answer to 
Ein an inquiry is that we do not know. The vague 
op jribtions of the ancients afford no means of judging ; 
SCR they do throw any light upon the question they 
for to the conclusion that species have disappeared ; 
fus PN is the Bactrian corn, of Pliny, now to be 
Se nd? and what has become of the Paneration and 
""Ammony of Dioscorides? If we had ancient herba- 
pment ! or even that Nymphvea is not itself the more 
complete stage of Villarsia? We most assuredly will 
not say that they are so ; butthen who can undertake to 
affirm that they are not? 
New Garden Plants. 
39. AZALEA SQUAMATA. Scaly-stalked Azalea. Green- 
house Shrub.  (Heathworts.*) China. From the 
mountains of Hong Kong, whence it was sent by Mr. 
Fortune, as a fine and distinct species. 
With the habit common to all the Chinese Azaleas they 
present the following peculiarities :—In its natural state 
it blooms without leaves, producing at the end of every 
little shoot a large solitary flower of a clear rose-colour, 
distinctly spotted with crimson on one side, and guarded 
at the base by a large sheath of bright brown. scales 
(whence its name). Its calyx, unlike that of the neigh- 
bouring species, is reduced to a mere five-toothed rim. 
Its ovary, immediately after the fall of the corolla, pro- 
jects in the form of an oblong body quite covered with 
coarse brown hairs. The leaves, when young are some- 
what like those of A. indica, and have nothing distinc- 
tive in their shape or surface ; but when old they are 
oval, sharp at each end, perfectly hairless, and as even 
on the upper surface as those of Rhododendron punc- 
tatum. ‘This plant has been long known from dried 
specimens and drawings sent from China by Mr. Reeves, 
the latter of which are preserved in the library of the 
Society : but it has never before been introduced alive. 
At present its flowers have only been. produced by plants 
out of health, and therefore they have given no just 
idea of the beauty of the plant, which is one of the finest 
in cultivation. It will probably prove hardy. In a 
ease, containing several plants, Mr. Fortune sent home 
a portion of the soil, brown loam, in which this species 
was found wild, and for the purpose of trying its effects 
one plant was potied in it; but it has by no means the 
healthy appearance of those potted in rough sandy peat. 
It strikes freely from cuttings of young wood under or- 
dinary treatment. The beautiful spotted flowers (al. 
though not large) and the neat foliage, together with a 
dwarf habit, will render this a plant of considerable im- 
portance either in a greenhouse or in the shrubpery.— 
Journal of the Hort. Soc. 
Garden Memoranda. 
Messrs. Rollisson’s Nursery, Tooting.—The plant- 
houses at this establishment consist of a range extend- 
ing the whole south side of the nursery, for the most 
part having lean-to roofs, but intersected by two elevated 
erections, with span-roofs. The whole of this range is 
devoted to Camellias, Azaleas, and miscellaneous green- 
house plants. Trained along the back of one of these 
houses is a fine specimen of Glycine sinensis, clothed 
with beautiful foliage, and richly ornamented the second 
time this season with a profuse display of flowers. 
The principal stove and present Orchid houses are 
rather low, span-roofed erections, but closely adjoining 
them is to be a large new Orchid-house, the foundation 
of which is already laid, the dimensions being 100 feet 
20. Among Orchids in bloom was Epiden- 
drum macrochilum. album, whieh was exhibited at 
the first great exhibition of the season, and whose 
flowers are still as. fresh as when they first ex- 
OMNI a ee 
c 
c 
* See Lindley’s ** Vegetable Kingdom” for an explanation of 
these terms. 
0: | stove Fern, Gymnogramma chrysophylla. 
d with them, the useful stove plant Rondeletia, 
speciosa major, a better variety than speciosa, sitia 
numerous heads.of orange flowers.; also Porphyrocomz. 
lanceolata, with deep.violet flowers ; and the handsome 
The collec. 
tion of Orchids is in a flourishing condition, but beyond 
the one already referred to, and some Stanhopess, fewr 
were in bloom. Several novelties: are, however, ds- 
serving attention, particularly an Oncidium, a Brazilian 
species, with light coloured flowers, the most beautifial 
I have seen}; the sepals and petals are mottled yellow 
and brown, and the large lip, its most striking featuas, 
has a deep-yellow ground colour, with black markings 
at its base ; towards the outer edge is a broad band of 
light. brown: associated, with this was the new Ashi- 
menes patens, together with the double-flowered Bind- 
weed (Calystegia. pubescens), producing its fine lilac 
flowers, as large as those of the Cape Jasmine (Gardenia, 
radicans), and a climbing Torenia, with dark-coleuredt 
tubular flowers.— A. B., June 30. 
Miscellaneous. 
Manna fallen from Heaven.— 1t appears from te 
researches of Professor Miquel that the “manne” 
which fell in the province of Van, in Asia Minor,üm 
1845, consisted of fragments of Lichen esculentum, 
These must have been torn from their woods by. 
storm, and transplanted through the air to the places 
where they fell.— Bo. Zeit. "i 
Sale of East Indian Orclids.—A. small collection f 
these plants was sold the other day by Messrs. Stevens. 
They appeared to be from Java, and it was 
that they were an importation by Messrs, Veitch and 
Sons, of Exeter. They were in excellent condition, aad 
produced high prices; thirty-six lots of Phalæenopsis 
amabilis, many of them extremely small, from 125.59 
6l. 10s.; the majority fetched from 2/. to 3d. Vanda 
insignis, which is quite new, and a fine thing, with 
lowers as large as Oncidium Lanceanum, and not am. 
like them in colour except that they are pale, was am 
object of great interest. The first and best specimen 
produced 137. ; the others from 27. 12s. 6d. to 124. We, 
according to the state of the lots, of which there were 
26. Some Renantheras, called new, but which did mo 
appear different from R. matutina, produced from 
21. 5s. to 4l. 5s. Two lots of a so-called new Aerides, 
6. 15s. and 71. 10s ; a Vanda, said to have bright scarlet 
flowers, but of which no specimen or drawing was pre- 
duced, from 4/. 5s. to 97. 15s. ; and Dendrobium coms- 
pressum, a very odd-looking thing, 67. 10s. and. 37. 15s. 
The total sum received was 3127. 
Calendar of Operations. 
(For the ensuing Week.) 
Double Potiing.—Large climbers, with other spesi- 
men plants of considerable size, are liable to become 
pot-bound ; and asit is not always expedient to gk 
them a thorough shift, it is a very good plar to sink 
the pot into another, which is somewhat larger. The 
pot selected should be thoroughly drained ; and fibrous 
heath soil and loam in lumps, with charcoal and pounded. 
erocks, should be laid over the drainage before placing 
the plant. The rim of the pot inserted may be 
vated about one-third its depth above the level.of tae 
exterior pot. This will give room for the prepared 
compost. After placing it perfectly level, the space 
between the two pots may be filled up with the same 
coarse materials, This space affords a good chanes af 
introdueing stakes or trellising, without injury tothe 
roots. I have large plants which were thus treated 
four years ago, and are still thriving, having beem 
constantly fed with liquid manure during the growing 
season. 
CONSERVATORIES, STOVE, &e. 
Conservatory.—Camellias may be shifted at tüs 
period. I consider it an excellent plan to perform this 
operation the moment. that the flower-bud is decidediy 
formed. As compost, I would recommend two-thirds 
of fibrous loam of an unctuous character, and ene-thind 
of fibrous heath soil, The more fibrous amd lumpgát 
is the better, and a good sprinkling of charcoal in small 
masses, With sharp silver sand, should be added. Let 
the pots be most completely drained, by placing some 
large erocks in a very hollow position at the bottemrs 
topping these up with a pounded mixture of brokem 
erocks and charcoal, from which all the very small par- 
ticles have been riddled. Cover this with very fibecut 
turf in small lumps, before placing the ball, and keep 
pressing the material (not ramming) close, with the 
fingers, during the process of filling up, observing:to 
have the compost in a mellow state, rather inclining to 
dryness. One most material point is, to see that 
ball is thoroughly moistened before shifting; if amy 
| doubt of this exist, let the ball be steeped äm 
| water for a quarter of an hour, previous to potting 
