294 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 281. 



dolas, the moving crowd along the stately piers, the imposing 

 groups of statuary on its borders, the tall columns with their 

 sculptured trophies of atlornment, the beautiful fountain, with 

 its horses rising from the waves, all veiled in silvery water, is 

 a vision never to be forgotten, and one of satisfying beauty. 



Entering one of the little boats propelled by electricity, 

 we silently and swiftly made the tour of the whole wonderful 

 region, stopping at the great white flights of steps that lead up 

 to each palace, learning their names, wondering at their pro- 

 portions, rejoicing in the harmonious colorings of their flags 

 which Hotter from myriads of staffs. You may think you know 

 it all beforehand, you have read of it a hundred times, but the 

 enjoyment is novel and intense, and more than ever does the 

 enchantment take possession of you. As days go by, and you 

 grow familiar with the scene, its splendor enhances rather than 

 palls, familiarity increases the charm, as it does with all truly 

 beautiful things. 



The place to stand at sunset is on a bridge that leads from 

 the Wooded Island to the Fisheries Building, where, it seen)s to 

 me, the most beautiful view of the whole Fair is to be had. 

 The longest stretch of tlie canal lies before the eye. On the 

 left the imposing mass of the Liberal Arts Building makes a 

 fine perspective ; on the right the flowering shrubs and green 

 trees of the island form an agreeable mass of color, behind 

 which rise distant domes and towers. The length of the canal 

 is broken by bridges that give a Venetian effect to the vista, 

 and in the background, far away, is seen the obelisk, backed by 

 a colonnade which forms a fitting finish to the picture, recall- 

 ing the beautiful canvases of Claude and Canaletto. The yel- 

 low light plays softly on the white buildings, under the bridges 

 glide the graceful gondolas, distant bells are softly chiming, 

 flowers are blooming, the summer throng comes and goes, 

 idly lingering to gaze. All is light, color, perfume, melody, 

 the realization of the most fanciful dream of those old mas- 

 ters. The sense of beauty is so intense, so gratifying, that the 

 eyes fill with tears, and for a moment the work-a-day world 

 vanishes, and we, too, are in Arcadia. And this enchanted 

 scene seems to belong not to the America of to-day, but to 

 some far-off hour to come in its millennium. 



If all this seems fanciful, it is but the natural outcome of a 

 scene which of itself is dream-like, and this great sensitive 

 crowd, learned and humble, ignorant and aspiring, drinks in 

 all this vision, and comes out from it enlarged, uplifted, with 

 new knowledge and new aims, and with a memory to broaden 

 the horizon ot life forever. The first night of our arrival was 

 that of the Infanta's visit, and fireworks and illuminations drew 

 a vast throng of spectators to the grounds. Though the whole 

 Fair is well lighted, the illuminations are all confined to the 

 court of honor and its adjoining buildings, which are outlined 

 in fire — the dome of the Administration Building being fur- 

 thermore surmounted with a row of torch-like lights which 

 alternate with the electric lamps. Near the surface of the 

 water runs a line of incandescent lamps, which gleam and are 

 reflected like jewels, and every now and then the search-light 

 is thrown upon the different groups of sculpture in a way that 

 emphasizes their beauty. As it fell on the spirited figure of 

 Franklin standing in the arched recesses of the Electrical 

 Building, th^ bold lines of the composition were clearly re- 

 vealed, while the fine figures of animals on their high pedes- 

 tals along the water seem almost lifelike in disfinctness. The 

 spectacle was wonderful. The vast orderly throng of 150,000 

 s wif tly moving people failed to encumber this spacious pleas ure- 

 ground. There was room for all without crowding. 



We had time to notice this while sitting upon the parapet 

 waiting for a vacant gondola. These boats are not black, as in 

 Venice now, but painted in various colors, as they were in Co- 

 lumbus' day. Some of them, with high prows surmounted 

 by swans' necks and griffins, are reproducfions of the state 

 barges of ancient Venice, and others are of the ordinary size, 

 gay with colored cushions and awnings. On this gala night the 

 gondoliers were arrayed in an old-time costume of striped red 

 and white, the Lion of San Marco emblazoned on their breasts, 

 and on their heads the curious cap of the fifteenth century. The 

 night was warm and still, the lights gleamed on gayly clad 

 forms which stepped in and out of the graceful boats as they 

 came alongside the broad white steps, where revelers waited 

 to enjoy their turn. The dome of light burned on, the shining 

 water plashed in the fountains, and, as our tarn came, we 

 floated beneath the bridges, where the shadows lay cool and 

 deep. Under the bending Willows of the island were sleeping 

 flocks of water-fowl, and among the Iris-leaves a swan lifted 

 up his long neck from his wing, gazed at us in sleepy wonder, 

 and then sank again to repose. Up and down we floated by 

 the vast white palaces, till the torches on the dome flared and 

 were spent, till line by line the electric lights were extinguished. 



and we could stay no longer. " Buona sera, Signori, remem- 

 ber the gondolier," murmured the gentle-tongued Venetian as 

 he helped us up the snowy steps, and the first magical day of 

 our sojourn at the White City was over. 

 Chicago, III. M. C. Robbins. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



EuLOPHiELLA Elisabeth.e. — This newr genus was founded 

 about a year ago by Mr. R. A. Rolfe, on a plant which 

 flowered in the establishment of L'Horticulture Interna- 

 tionale at Brussels. It had been introduced from Mada- 

 gascar by Messrs. Linden, at whose request, I believe, it 

 was named in compliment to Queen Elisabeth of Rou- 

 mania, known in literary circles as "Carmen Sylva." It 

 was exhibited in flower at the recent Ghent Quinquennial 

 Exhibition by Messrs. Linden, and was then considered to 

 be "decidedly one of the most remarkable Orchids, if not 

 the most remarkable plant, shown." A figure of the plant 

 was published in Lindenia in May last year, but the source 

 from whence the plant was obtained was not then divulged, 

 and until recently Eulophiella was known as a rare beauty 

 which few were ever likely to possess. 



But to the delight of Orchid-growers, Messrs. Sander & 

 Co. have succeeded in importing a quantity of plants of 

 the Eulophiella, over a hundred of which were sold by 

 auction in London a fortnight ago. They were advertised 

 as follows : 



A grand importation, in magnificent order and con- 

 dition, of this new Madagascar species is now offered for 

 the first time. It was discovered and collected by Mon- 

 sieur L. Hamelin, who has previously sent only three 

 plants to Europe, one of which was exhibited in flower 

 at the last Ghent International Exhibition, where it cre- 

 ated among Orchidologists a profound sensation, and 

 commanded universal admiration. It was by far the love- 

 liest new Orchid in the whole exhibition. Plants now 

 offered have been received direct from its discoverer, Mon- 

 sieur L. Hamelin, who says its flowers resemble Phalae- 

 nopsis blossoms, and are produced as many as forty on a 

 single spike ; and he has seen masses with twenty and 

 more spikes. The flowers last two months in perfection, 

 April, May and June being its season of flowering. This 

 new Orchid grows on trees at about forty feet from the 

 ground, over swampy land, and only one species of tree in 

 the far interior of Madagascar ; and Mr. Hamelin assures 

 us that he has collected every plant that he could find 

 worth collecting. 



The plants realized from three to five guineas each. 



I aiTfi informed that Messrs. F. Sander & Co. have over a 

 thousand plants of the Eulophiella for sale. It would be 

 interesting to learn how the plants at Brussels have behaved 

 under cultivation ; whether they are as difficult to manage 

 as some of the Madagascar Orchids ; for instance, Phajus 

 Humblotii and P. tuberculosus. 



In Lindenia the plant is described as terrestrial, but the 

 collector says it grows only on trees, and judging from the 

 examples of it now at Kew I should say it is not only 

 epiphytal, but a lover of plenty of moisture. The rhizome 

 is as thick as a man's little finger, white, with ring-like , 

 nodes one-third of an inch apart, and numerous fleshy] 

 white roots. The pseudo-bulbs also are white and ringed, | 

 four inches long, one and a half inches wide, covered with! 

 the fibrous remains of the leaf-bases. The longest leaf is I 

 four feet long and two inches wide, thick and leathery ; 

 the scape is erect, two and a half feet long, and it shows 

 the scars of forty flowers. Bearing in mind that the flow- 

 ers are as large as those of Odontoglossum citrosmum, 

 white inside, with a yellow lip, brown-purple outside, the 

 same color characterizing the whole of the scape and pedi- 

 cels, it will be seen that in Eulophiella we have an Orchid 

 of exceptional beauty and distinctness, and if it only proves 

 a good garden-plant it will take rank with the very best of 

 tropical Orchids. 



