FEBRUARY, 1917.] THE ORCHID.-REVIEW. 31 
ne cae o2- ™ 
aC. OBITUARY. Resed 
ILLIAM THOMPSON.—Another of our oldest correspondents has 
passed away in the person of William Thompson, Esq., who died at 
his residence, Walton Grange, Stone, Staffordshire, on December 22nd last. 
Mr. Thompson had attained his 84th year in September, and seemed hale 
and hearty when we had the pleasure of seeing him last summer, and 
as keen as ever in his favourite group, Odontoglossum, which he has 
cultivated for nearly half-a-century. As long agoas April, 1887, he received 
4 First-class Certificate for Odontoglossum crispum Thompson’s var. from 
the R.H.S., and this has been followed by others at intervals down to June, 
1915, when O. c. Perfect Gem obtained an Award of Merit. This species 
was a prime favourite with Mr. Thompson, and the collection was 
rich in choice varieties, and its numerous hybrids were naturally 
erown in quantity. An account of the collection was given at pp. 
243-245 of our second volume, from which it will be seen that other groups 
were also well represented. Many interesting things from it have been 
noted from time to time in our pages, and among them the rare Odonto- 
glossum prestans, which was figured at page 9 of our tenth volume. Here 
also appeared O. preevisum, the natural hybrid between O. Lindleyanum and 
O. gloriosum (O.R., xii. p. 176), whose origin we have subsequently proved 
(I.c., xxiii. p. 101). It was also a plant in Mr. Thompson’s collection 
that enabled the mysterious origin of Cattleya Victoria-R gina to be 
cleared up, when it was figured, at p. 17 of our third volume, from a 
photograph by Mr. W. Stevens, who was for so many years Mr. Thompson’s. 
gardener. Mr. Thompson was one of the earliest hybridisers of Odonto- 
glossums, though, as with many others, with very limited success for a long 
period, though later many interesting seedlings have been raised. In this 
connection we may recall the loss of a considerable number of seedlings 
owing to the breakdown of the heating apparatus during a period of severe 
weather. Cypripediums have also of late engaged much attention, and we 
may recall the handsome C. mirum (Euryades New Hall var. x Alcibiades) 
which received both a First-class Certificate and a Gold Medal from the 
Manchester Orchid Society in November, 1913. Mr. Thompson was for 
many years, and until recently, a member of the Orchid Committee of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, and was an original member of the Manchester 
and North of England Orchid Society, formed some twenty years ago, and 
one of its most consistent supporters and exhibitors ever since. He was also 
one the judges at the International Horticultural Exhibition held in London 
in 1912. His name is commemorated in Odontoglossum Thompsonianum 
(Edwardii X crispum), and Cypripedium Thomrsonii (villosum x Calypso). 
