224 ^^^ Vl^esi America7i Scientist. 



who became so much Interested in the study of shells that he ga\'e 

 up his business, bought a vessel and went forth on a grand scale 

 to collect these beautiful forms. He visited the west coast of South 

 and Central America, and cruised among the coral islands of 

 Polynesian waters, and farther beyond to the Phillippines, where 

 he made a wonderful collection of the remarkable land shells of 

 these islands, and so on until he returned to England, and the 

 Cumingian collection of shells became the most famous of any in 

 the world, and continued to be so regarded for many years. Upon 

 Cuming's death, it was purchased by the British Museum, and 

 is now a part of that great national collection. Many of the shells 

 (duplicates ) are in other collections, the result of exchange directly 

 or indirectly with Cuming himself Thus the magnificent collec- 

 tion of Dr. Wesley Newcomb, now the property of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, contains many of the Cumingian shells; so, too, with the 

 Dr. Isaac Lea and the Stearns collections in the United States 

 National Museum at Washington. 



It was quite natural therefore that Brydges should become some- 

 what interested in conchology, and give some attention to this class 

 of natural forms. 



Sometime after his marriage, Brydges removed to South 

 America and established a botanical garden and nursery in the 

 vicinity of Valparaiso, in Chili. His garden was located upon the 

 bank or in the immediate vicinity of a stream. Unfortunately, a 

 devastating freshet occurred and swept it away ; this was about 

 all the property he had, and he found himself in such a pecuniary 

 strait that he was compelled to look about for some means by 

 which he could support his family. He obtained orders to collect 

 for the Zoological Society of London, for many private persons 

 as well, and set forth on this work, no doubt, with his usual 

 enthusiasm. It was while he was thus engaged that he explored 

 the Bolivian Andes for plants, mammals, birds and shells, and in 

 the pursuit of these came across that wonderful and magnificent 

 lily, the Victoria regia, in the midst of one of the mountain lakes 

 of the region named. While relating to me the circumstances of 

 his discovery, he remarked that no one but a fellow naturalist 

 could conceive of his feelings. His emotion at the sight of this 

 beautiful plant as it appeared on the placid surface of the forest- 

 rimmed lake, in every stage of development from bud to full', 

 expansion of flower, were almost beyond control. Brydges was 

 not, however, the first discoverer of this queen of water lilies. 

 But it was from the plants, bulbs or roots obtained by him that 

 the first specimens were grown in England in special ponds made 

 expressly for the purpose, and multitudes of persons were thus 

 made acquainted with this remarkable botanical species. The 

 discovery and sight which met Brydges' eyes, as he beheld the 

 gorgeous array before him, of countless numbers of the Victoria 

 regia in blossom, and its great leaves with their turned up edges,. 



