SAGITTARIA MONTEVIDENSIS. 297 



of the Italian tongue, save that in Italy it would be 

 difficult to find a spot where the horizon is unbroken 

 by a near hill, or by the distant outline of Alp or 

 Apennine. 



Having paid a short visit to Mr. Schnyder, the 

 newly appointed Professor of Botany, I strolled 

 through the adjoining fields with the hope of finding 

 some remains of the autumnal vegetation. The low 

 flat country is intersected by broad ditches, and much 

 reminded me of Battersea fields as they existed half 

 a century ago, when I first began to collect British 

 plants. Seeing in a ditch the remains of a fine 

 Sagittaria, I filled a bit of paper with the minute 

 seeds, and from these has sprung a plant which has 

 for several seasons been admired by the visitors to 

 Kew Gardens. It is the Sagittaria Montevidensis, 

 which is not uncommon in Argentaria and Uruguay, 

 but, so far as I know, does not extend to Brazil — a 

 singular fact, considering that the seeds must be 

 readily transported by water-birds. In its native 

 home it grows to a somewhat larger size than the 

 European species, but is not very conspicuous. Culti- 

 vated at Kew, in a house kept at the mean temperature 

 of about 78° Fahr., it has attained gigantic propor- 

 tions, rising to a height of over six feet, and the 

 petioles of the leaves attaining the thickness of a 

 man's arm. 



I had arranged to take my passage to Brazil in the 

 steamer Neva, of the Royal Mail Company, and at 

 this season I felt no regret at quitting this region of 

 South America, which offers comparatively slight 

 attractions to the tourist. I was led, however, fron^ 



