28 
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(Continued from fp. 26.) 
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LINDEN the homage of our sentiments of gratitude and sympathy. In saying ‘ gratitude 
I but use the correct word. : 
Indeed, do we not owe to them those charming moments which each day we pass in 
our houses, in quest of a new growth, or in beholding the first appearance of a scape 
pushing out from the stem, or in admiring the flowering of our plants ? 
To whom are we indebted for these monthly reunions, so agreeable and always so 
amicable ? 
For what is known to science of this admirabl 
artists, of these quaint flowers with the distinguished forms they bear? 
To whom, lastly, do our fellow citizens owe these superb Orchids with which they 
ornament their dwellings, and with which they enhance the brilliancy of their fetes ? 
Well, Gentlemen, I do not hesitate to speak, and you will approve it, 1am certain; 
that much of these things we owe to Messrs LINDEN. (Afplause.) 
You know what were the ancient Orchids : A few insignificant Oncidiums with dull 
colours, two or three ordinary Cypripediums. All these were relegated to the most obscure 
spots in the houses of botanic gardens, and what houses? Ought they not rather to have 
been called crematory ovens, where the plants were half dead on arriving in their places, 
and from whence they usually departed some months after, so well dried as to be able to 
enter immediately and without preparation into the herbarium of the botanist. 
This was pretty nearly the situation when M. LINDEN, pere, commenced his grand 
voyages of exploration. It was not one of the easiest of tasks. At first the success was 
problematical ; afterwards these distant parts which it was intended to explore, were half 
uncivilized and defended by a hydra with a hundred heads, of which the first represented 
venemous serpents, the second the yellow fever, another the vomito negro, and others of 
the kind. 
Nothing deterred M. Linpen. He braved the journeys through countries with no 
beaten track; he braved the heat of tropical valleys, the cold of the snows of the Cordillera, 
and brought back to us the magnificent golden fleece represented by our Cattleyas, our 
Odontoglossums, and other marvels which we admire to-day. 
But this was only the first part of M. Linpen’s task. He also lived to popularise the 
plants with which he had endowed us. It is this part which he has now handed over to 
his son, M. Lucten LINDEN. 
Thanks to the labours and intelligence of these Gentlemen, they succeeded in wresting 
from nature secrets of the life of the most brilliant representatives of the vegetable kingdom, 
and soon they filled the houses of their beautiful horticultural establishment with the verdure 
and the flowers, and gave them the aspect of our meadows and fields in the beautiful days 
of spring. Afterwards the plants discovered by M. LINDEN arrived in multitudes and were 
diffused throughout Europe, with the secret of their culture generously given to the four 
winds of publicity. 
In order to give a complete idea of the progress realised, we may recall the superb 
establishment in which we met this morning, and which is so admirably directed by 
M. Lucten LinDEN. On entering we find first the beautiful Lindenia, where our beloved 
flowers are represented with delicacy and truth, then the excellent little Fowrnal des Orchidées 
(Applause), through which are known even to the most humble amateur, the science of.culture 
and the knowledge of progress realised. In penetrating further into the houses, so well 
kept and arranged, we see the most beautiful specimens of the Orchid family bearing their 
luxuriant inflorescence. Lastly, we admire the immense importations, received to-day from 
foreign parts, to-morrow to be put into cultivation, and soon reaching their consummation 
at a price accessible to all. 
e family of exotic Orchids, or to our 
(To be continued on p. 30.) 
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