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house, as is the case in the temperate and tropical fern houses, 
are all arranged in groups, closely allied, and the more important 
ones are the cactuses or “ Indian figs,” euphorbias, bromelias, 
dasylirions, dracenas, beaucarneas, yuccas, aloes, agaves, cras- 
sulas, rocheas, sempervivum or “house leeks,” echeverias, 
mammillarias, opuntias, and cereus. Among the latter was the 
celebrated Cereus giganteus (called by the Mexicans “suwarrow”), 
which in the Rocky Mountains imparts a singular aspect to the 
scenery ; its enormous tall stems, 50 to 60 feet in height, with 
diameter of about 2 feet, having the appearance of telegraph 
posts. 
In one of the tropical stoves I saw for the first time a young 
plant of the double cocoa-nut palm, or “ coco-de-mer” (Lodoicea 
sechellarum), the fruits of which, found floating about the sea 
prior to the discovery of the Seychelles Islands, in 1743, puzzled 
so many botanists, and gave rise to many absurd and fabulous 
tales. 
One of the tropical houses is devoted to the great group of 
Aroidee and Marantacee, the latter order showing all the prin- 
cipal kinds of ginger and arrowroot ; the Cyclanthacee, embracing 
the closely allied Pandanus, “screw pine” or vacona, from 
Mauritius, and of which sugar bags or sacks are made ; also the 
pepper tribe, Piperacee. Among the aroids, which abound 
chiefly in tropical swamps and humid forests, were many 
splendid anthuriums or “flamingo flower,” Dieffenbachias or 
“‘Dumb-cane,” with their spotted leafage, and the Colocasia anti- 
quorum or “taro,” so well known and valued as an esculent in the 
islands of the Pacific. The great aroid, Amorphophallus titanum, 
which flowered at Kew three years ago, is a native of Sumatra. 
It is a herbaceous plant of gigantic proportions, and of its kind 
eclipses all others. The spadix of the flower is 5 feet high, and 
the spathe 3 feet in diameter. The divided blade of the leaf covers 
an area of 45 feet in circumference. Among the peppers (Piper) 
was the “kava” plant of Fiji, from which is prepared a stimu- 
lating beverage. The root of this plant is chewed by young 
boys or girls, and the juice thus extracted, together with the 
pulp, and water poured on, is placed in a bowl, and after strain- 
ing through a piece of “tappa” (cloth made of the bast of 
Brousonettia papyrifera or “paper mulberry”), is drunk with 
avidity by the chiefs and others assembled. 
One of the greatest boons to botanical students is the three 
museums, and I cannot do better than to quote the words of Sir 
Joseph Hooker (the late director of the gardens), as given in a 
handbook :— 
“ The object of these museums is to show the practical appli- 
cations of botanical science. They teach us to appreciate the 
