88 ORCHIDS. 
The following very interesting story, which comes to us 
from a recent English journal, will give the reader new ideas 
of Asiatic insect life among flowers, and of the serious difh- 
culties with which researches for new orchid plants are 
sometimes prosecuted in the East. 
“Coryanthes is a superb orchid, abundant in Sante Coma- 
pan, but a stranger can hardly guess in what company it is 
found. At the summit of trees above those which bend over 
a ravine or rivulet, there are nests inhabited by very large 
ants. The upper part of these trees is usually covered with 
Coryanthes, and sometimes an Epidendrum may be seen _be- 
tween their pendent spikes. At first sight this might be 
taken for a Cypripedium. 
“In a sort of pitcher or slipper, sweet-tasting liquid is 
contained, probably much appreciated by the epicures among 
the little colonies of ants established in the neighborhood. 
It is a delicate sweetmeat factory, close at hand. Unfor- 
tunately — doubly unfortunately for those who audaciously 
endeavor to remove a plant from the spot where it grows — 
the ants have worse stings than our wasps. Neither the 
explorer nor his assistants dare think of climbing a tree to 
obtain the elegant ornament which decorates it. The ape- 
like agility of the wild Indian is required for such an enter- 
prise to be successful. 
“There is no other means of obtaining possession of the 
desired plant than by levelling the tree with a hatchet; but 
this task is neither free from difficulties nor danger. At each 
shake which disturbs the tree, the ants become furious. One 
might imagine that they are aware that their hive or colony 
