THE ORCHID REVIEW. 5 
DIES ORCHIDIANZ. 
IN common with most other readers of the Review, I have been a good deal 
interested in that case reported under the heading, ‘“ Orchids in the Law 
Courts,” at pages 336 and 373 of your last volume, and should think very few 
people regard the result as satisfactory. It is not exactly clear to my mind 
what the decision really amounts to. If it implies a suspicion that the 
plants brought into Court were not the ones actually purchased, by all means 
let us have the case over again, and have their identity clearly established. 
If, on the other hand, it implies the belief that the plants were those 
actually purchased, but that they afterwards reverted to ordinary forms, I 
can only regret that Mr. Commissioner Kerr is not the fortunate possessor of 
a collection of choice varieties, and then, perhaps, he would be able to tell 
us how often they revert back to ordinary forms. The general experience 
of cultivators is that such reversions rarely, if ever, take place. The 
peculiarities which distinguish a choice variety from an ordinary form, and 
which give to it an enhanced value, can be relied upon to be repeated year 
after year, and so well is this known that no trader of repute would have 
allowed a case of this kind to be brought into Court. The case is 
admittedly an exceptional one, and so unsatisfactory as it stands that it 
ought not to be allowed to rest where it is. If the plea of reversion is to be 
successfully set up every time some plant purchased as a choice variety 
turns out to be an ordinary form there is no telling what will happen, and it 
would be unfortunate in many respects if amateurs refused to purchase 
choice varieties without seeing them in flower, which seems the only 
alternative. 
The flowering of another hybrid Odontoglossum of artificial origin is an 
event of considerable importance, as so.many failures have had to be 
recorded with this particular genus, and yet there is no other in which so 
many well-authenticated natural hybrids occur. There seems to be something 
in our climate which is fatal to these plants in their infant stages, unless 
indeed we have not yet learned how to treat them properly. It would be 
_ very interesting if Mr. Cookson would let us know the history of his Odonto- 
glossum X crispo-Hallii, and whether any special treatment has been given. 
It isa very handsome plant, and one that can never be expected to occur in 
a wild state, for the parents do not grow together. The preceding examples 
served to confirm the origin and parentage of two supposed natural hybrids, 
O X Denisoniz and O. X excellens, and I hope in time to see the origin of 
others demonstrated with the same certainty. Several crosses, I know, have 
been made with this object in view, and it would be interesting to know 
with what result. The success attained by Mr. Cookson and his able 
