OcToBER, 1916.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 235 
after drawings were made, at all events they are not preserved in his 
Herbarium. 
Another correspondent alludes to the excellent organisation of such a 
Herbarium as that at Kew, by which it is possible to quickly identifiy 
almost any given plant, provided materials are already there. He was 
interested to find a specimen of an Orchid that came into cultivation some 
years ago from some unknown locality, and was almost as quickly lost. It 
was sent to Kew for determination, and, being found to be new, was named 
and described, and the specimen preserved, that specimen and description 
being now all that is known about it. It probably still flourishes in its 
unknown habitat, for the world is a big place, and has not yet been fully 
explored, even by Orchid collectors. 
There is an interesting point that may be mentioned in this connection, 
namely, the large number of Orchids that are only known from plants that 
have flowered in gardens, and this is due to the fact that they were 
discovered and sent home by the numerous collectors sent abroad in search 
of novelties. It has been entirely a commercial question. In this way 
_many unknown districts have been explored, and the plants met with have 
been sent home to enrich our collections. On flowering, the majority 
proved unknown, and the problem was to get them identified, for which 
“purpose they were entrusted to anyone who would undertake the work. 
Whether the materials were subsequently preserved and formed into a 
Herbarium was a matter of no concern, and it is fortunate that more of 
them have not been lost. 
In some cases a few flowers were dried by the collectors, and many of 
these were sent to Reichenbach, but in many others this point was 
neglected ; and it may be added that the plants were not always in bloom 
when found. In any case a very large number of species are only known 
by such materials as it has been possible to collect from garden sources. 
The unfortunate thing is that many of the plants died before such materials 
were secured. 
The problem is how to deal with those species of which no dried 
specimens are available for comparison, and of which the original 
description is inadequate for their identification. They cannot be ignored, 
at all events while the law of priority exists, but such difficulties suggest the 
n new species are described a specimen or 
necessity of a rule that whe ; 
or in some other public 
adequate drawing shall be deposited at Kew, 
establishment, 
