JAN. FEB., 1920.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 3 
of the horror depicted at page 109 of our last volume should convert any 
halting Orchidist into an earnest supporter of the League of Nations, for in’ 
it lies the greatest hope of security for the future. oan 
\ mses e  4,E 
IS tHe THE ORCHID REVIEW TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. | 
BL 4_ A BER Se 
Ce IVE years ago the Orchid Review was commencing its third 
volume, and it is interesting to glance back to the current topics of. 
the period. The January issue contained a fine photograph of the’ plant of 
Cattleya Victoria-Regina in the collection of W. Thompson, Esq., which it 
was shown was a natural hybrid between C. labiata and C. Leopoldii var. 
pernambucensis, which grow together in the Pernambuco district. Natural 
hybrids were well to the fore, for a note about Cattleya O’Brieniana 
suggests its origin as a natural cross between C. Loddigesii and C. dolosa, 
received from the same region, and another article showed that Cypripedium 
siamense, described as a species before the second parent was known, was 
also a natural hybrid between C. callosum and C. Appletonianum. We 
may add in passing that it was this article that led Mr. Reginald Young, of 
Liverpool, to make the experiment which settled the matter, and, fortun- 
ately, he had the two species in bloom together at the time. A third 
article was devoted to Cypripedium insigne and its varieties, two dozen of 
the more distinct being described, including the remarkable form with lip- 
like petals, which was afterwards figured as var. Oddity. 
Willow roots as a substitute for peat was discussed by Mr. A. Annandale, 
an amateur grower of the period, and there is an interesting note on the 
successful culture of Coelogyne cristata alba by Mr. R. Brooman White, who 
is, happily, still devoted to the cult. The Calendar of Operations was in 
the capable hands of Mr. H. A. Burberry, who had charge of the fine collec- 
tion of Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, at Highbury. The six new hybrids 
described were Epidendrum Wallisio-ciliare, Lzliocattleya trentonensis, 
and four Cypripediums, and a summary of the Orchids of 1894 includes 
hybrids from twenty-three different raisers. The flowering at Kew of two 
species of the primitive genus Neuwiedia is also recorded, and the appear- 
ance of the female of Cycnoches Loddigesii in the collection of H. J. Elwes, 
Esq., after a lapse of over half-a-century- Mr. O. O. Wrigley hada note on 
a batch of forty or fifty Cypripedium Charlesworthii which he had flowered. 
The February issue contains an article on Mexican Hybrid Lelias, the 
Culture of Dendrobiums by Mr. James Cypher, figures of Dendrobium 
Hildebrandii and Coryanthes macrantha at home, and numerous other 
notes, in addition to the usual reports of Exhibitions. A spirited discussion 
on the origin of the polymorphic Catasetum splendens also indicates that 
natural hybrids were a burning question in those far-off days. 
