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range 1, the orchids in houses 12 and 15, the members of 
the pine-apple family in house 10, and the cycads in house 1. 
n house No. 1, the easterly compartment of this trans- 
verse portion, the collection of sago palms or cycads has 
has been installed. This family of plants is represented by 
large specimens of Cycas revoluta, from Japan; by Cycas 
circinalis, from the Molucca Islands; by a single plant of 
the rare Stangeria eriopus, from southern Africa, where it is 
known as the kaffir’s-head; by a number of specimens of 
the genus Zamia, including the small Florida coonties; 
and by the Kaffir-bread (Encephalartos), two species, 
from Africa; the stems and trunks of plants of this family 
contain much starch, which is extracted, in the countries 
in which they grow, by crushing and washing, and pass 
into commerce under the name of sago starch. Other 
specimens are in the south end of the middle one of the 
smaller houses. 
In houses 2 and 3 are the tropical tree-ferns and the 
larger specimens of the low ferns and fern-allies. 
The graceful tree-ferns mostly inhabit the mountains of 
the tropics, commonly at an elevation of 1500 feet or more. 
Many of the plants here have been secured by Garden expe- 
ditions to different parts of the American tropics. Another 
feature of interest is the collection of staghorn-ferns, hang- 
ing over the walk in the center house; the application of the 
common name staghorn is quite evident in several of the 
species. Suspended from the roof in baskets are many 
desirable ferns. A fern irom China and Tartary, known as 
the Scythian Lamb (Cibotium Barometz), may be found 
here; it is of interest as forming the basis of a marvellous 
tale, current in early times, to the effect that on a vast 
plain to the eastward of the Volga occurred a wonderful 
plant, looking like a lamb; this animal, so the story ran, 
was supported upon a stalk and as soon as it had exhausted 
the vegetation at hand died from starvation. 
In house 4 is a collection of exogenous tropical plants. 
These are arranged in botanical sequence, the families 
