Tur Genus Masprvancra; irs H ISTORY, GEOGRAPHICAL DistRIBUTION, ETC. 
flower, would easily remove the pollinia and would then transport them to the flowers 
of another plant. In other species the texture of the whole flower, or of some especial 
part, is juicy and succulent, and possibly acts as an allurement to insects. The internal 
organs of the flowers of the Ooccinew Section are extremely small, scarcely visible within 
the deep narrow sepal-tube, but the broadly-extended sepals are brilliantly coloured for 
the attraction of insects, which, after alighting upon them would perhaps discover the 
curious viscid substance to be found in the angle of the petals, and in attempting to 
reach this, or in struggling to escape from the narrow tra p into which they had forced 
their way, must inevitably carry away the pollinia, repeating the same manceuvres in 
the flowers of other plants. Many more suggestions might be made as to the manner 
in which the important process of fertilisation is effected, but in the present lack of 
local observations upon the subject, no information can be given. In a wild state, 
Masdevallias appear to ripen seed freely, for a great many of the dried specimens which 
I have examined showed well-developed seed-capsules. In cultivation the flowers are 
easily amenable to hybridisation, but the hybrids raised by artificial means are too 
numerous to be figured in this work and only a few are mentioned. Those who take an 
interest in them will find their merits fully set forth in the dealers’ catalogues of the day. 
The plants from which my drawings were made were not chosen as fine horticul- 
tural specimens, but may be considered, on the whole, to be of fair average size and 
colour. I have endeavoured to make each Plate as complete as possible, giving, in all 
except four, a drawing of buds more or less advanced in growth, as well as several 
different views of the perfect flower. In some of the Plates the colouring is not quite 
so clear and bright as I could have wished. Only a drawing direct from the flowers 
could give the delicate effects to be seen in nature, the grey shading of the lithograph 
unavoidably detracting from the brilliancy of the colours laid over it. It is no doubt 
advantageous in botanical work or in any similar drawing demanding great exactness, 
that the person who makes the original drawing from nature should also lithograph the 
Plates and indicate the colours to be used by the colourist, for, by this means, the work 
passes through fewer hands and is more likely to turn out accurate. I have therefore 
pursued this method throughout the present work, and have, besides, touched up the 
colouring of every Plate sent out, numbering nearly 9,000. It may be noticed that the 
dissections of internal parts of the flowers given in my drawings are uniform, a system 
intended to facilitate the comparison of the structure of one species with that of another 
—often rendered impossible by the want of uniformity in botanical Plates, The photo- 
graphs from which the woodcuts were made were taken by different persons, and are, 
therefore, not on one scale, or meant for comparison with each other, but with the 
natural size of the plant as represented in the corresponding Plate. The woodcuts 
were executed by Messrs. W. and J. R. Cheshire, of 23, Holborn Viaduct, and I would 
specially draw attention to those of Chimera var. Backhousiana and M. Houtteana, 
which show wonderfully delicate and careful work. It has proved impossible to give a 
woodcut of every species in cultivation, as was at first proposed. Some of the plants 
are very rare, and exist in such small pieces only, that the entire plant can be fully 
represented in the coloured Plate. Of the eighty cultivated species and varieties 
figured, sixty-three are from the Marquess of Lothian’s collection of Orchids at New- 
battle Abbey, and one of these, MW. fragrans, is a new species. Another new species, 
M. fractiflexa, is from a drawing by Consul Lehmann and has not yet been imported 
alive. We also publish drawings of six plants hitherto known by name only, three of 
them from Brazil, discovered, drawn and described by Senhor Rodriguez, Director of 
the Botanic Gardens, at Rio de Janeiro; one, a d rawing of M. uniflora, sent from 
Madrid by Dr. Miguel Colmeiro; and two drawn by Consul Lehmann, of species not yet 
known in cultivation, although described years ago by Professor Reichenbach. Many 
of the remainder of the plants have never before been drawn. 
Although the plan of dividing the Genus into Sections was originated by Professor 
Reichenbach, he often omitted, in describing a new species, to state the Section or 
