132 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.E. 



of Central America became denizens for the first time of the glass- 

 houses of Great Britain. The following particulars extracted chiefly 

 from an address delivered before the Royal Horticultural Society 

 in February 1867, by Mr. Bateman, will be read with interest : — 



" From the moment lie received the letter (■'^upni) he laboured 

 incessantly to drag from their hiding places the forest treasures of 

 Guatemala and transfer them to the shores of his native land. In 

 pursuit of this object there was scarcely a sacrifice he did not make, 

 or a danger or hardship he did not brave. In sickness or in health, 

 amid the calls of business or the perils of war, whether detained in 

 (juarantine on the shores of the Atlantic, or shipwrecked on the rocks 

 of the Pacihc, he never suffered an opportunity to escape him of 

 adding to the long array of his botanical discoveries." 



"Never shall I forget my delight,'' says Mr. Bateman, "on opening 

 the first box of orchids he sent me, all carefully packed and in the 

 best possible condition. Though gathered at random every plant was 

 new. Masses of Epidendrum SInnnerl (the first to flower and thence 

 named after him) divers other Epidendra, Oneid/'um Caoe7ulishianuiit, 

 On. leucochilum, and Odoiitoglussum hidonense, the first Odontoglot that 

 ever reached England alive." 



His subsequent discoveries and introductions are noted in their respective 

 places in the Synopsis of Genera and Species that follow ; it is sufficient 

 to mention liere CatUeija Sldnneri and Lycaste Sldnneri which alone 

 will keep his name in memory so long as orchids continue to ha 

 cultivated. And among his other discoveries, Scho)iib/(r(jkia Tibiciiiis, 

 Epidendruiii cnemidophoruvi, E. SfaiDfunliwinvi and Odonfui/lostium ijrande 

 have an exceptional botanical interest in addition to their great horticultural 

 merit. 



Mr. Skinner also made many valuable contriliutions to ornithology, 

 and the collections of birds in this country were enriched by him 

 with many rare and beautiful specimens, including several species of 

 humming birds. 



After the dispersion of Mr. Bateman's collection, Mr. vSkinner 

 greatly assisted the Polish collector Von Warscewicz, who brought to 

 Europe many beautiful orchids previously unknown, * for such was his 

 enthusiasm for orchids that either personally or through his agents he 

 continued to search for new species to the end of his life. His later 

 collections were entrusted to his friend, the late James Veitch of 

 Chelsea. He died at Aspinwall, on the isthmus of Panama, January 9th, 

 1867. 



While Mr. Bateman was cultivating orchids at Knypersley, two 



* Warscewicz's most interesting discoveries were made in 1848 — 9, during a very difficutt 

 and dangerous journey on foot with Indians along the mountain route from Chiapas in 

 Mexico to Panama. 



