through Belgium and Part of France. 423 



Plagiolobium. chorozemsefolium was 3 ft. high, in full flower, 

 and was truly magnificent. 



The next garden that I shall mention is that of M. Vander- 

 maelen, the proprietor of a lithographic establishment, a gentle- 

 man very fond of plants, who has erected two beautiful cast- 

 iron houses, one for stove plants, and the other for green-house 

 plants. Among the latter are some of esteemed and rare 

 species. The stove plants looked rather sickly, perhaps from 

 being too much exposed while the house was being erected. 

 M. Vandermaelen has two collectors in Brazil seeking Or- 

 chideae. He has already received from them some species of 

 these plants ; but I had not an opportunity of seeing them ; as 

 it was night before I saw the gentleman himself, and the gar- 

 dener was not allowed to show them. I found M. Vander- 

 maelen in the evening busily engaged in his garden, with several 

 other persons, catching moths and other insects, of which he has 

 a very extensive collection. Behind his houses is his museum, 

 which is well stocked with all sorts of stuffed birds ; serpents of 

 every description, preserved in spirits ; shells without number; 

 and, in fact, every curiosity he can possibly obtain. I was very 

 much gratified with this museum; and, if I had had more time, 

 I should have visited it again, on purpose to take notes of the 

 most interesting objects which it contains. 



I next directed my course to the palace of Lacken, situated 

 about three or four miles out of Brussels. The palace is occu- 

 pied, at present, by the King of the Belgians, who is very fond 

 of plants, especially of those of an odoriferous kind. His 

 Majesty has had Mr. M'Intosh from Claremont [see p. 328.] 

 to superintend the building of some new houses, namely, a stove, 

 a green-house, and a long range of pits. The whole of these 

 are finished in a very superior manner, and reflect great credit 

 on Mr. M'Intosh, as in them both beauty and utility are com- 

 bined. The latter quality is too often neglected by garden archi- 

 tects : beauty seems to be the principal subject of their study. 

 I particularly admired the manner of giving air in front of these 

 houses by means of an iron rod that is extended from one end 

 to the other, and is very ingeniously connected with each light ; 

 so that a person may stand at one end, and give all the lights 

 air at once. As I have never seen anything of the kind else- 

 where, I suppose that it is Mr. M'Intosh's own invention ; and, at 

 any rate, it is a very ingenious one. The orangery here is a fine 

 large noble-looking building, upwards of 300 ft. long, 50 ft. 

 wide, and 40 ft. high, with a common slated roof, and large 

 windows in front with pillars between. The gardener who 

 showed me round informed me that it has been proposed to erect 

 a new conservatory in a large open space, and to remove from 

 the old one the windows at present in front of it, thus throwing 



