THE ORCHID REVIEW. 135 
group; showing that the insect was by no means exclusive in its visits. 
Another example is that of a common blue-bottle fly, with the pollinia of 
Cirrhopetalum robustum affixed to the middle of the thorax. This case is 
interesting, as it throws further light on an observation by Mr. F. M. Bailey, 
who when describing it under the later name of C. graveolens, remarked : 
‘The strong odour of the flowers seems to have the effect of attracting and 
stupefying flies, so that when by the turning over of the labellum they 
become jammed between that organ and the column, they are unable to 
extricate themselves, and die” (vide supra, 1V., p. 308). In the present 
instance the flies (for there were two) had no such misfortune. When the 
flowers opened Mr. Griessen saw an insect visit one of them, and when it 
flew away he captured it, a carrion fly with green abdomen, allied to the blue- 
bottle, with the pollinia attached to the thorax. This insect was not kept, 
but a few days after another fly seen at the flowers and captured, proved to 
be the blue-bottle above mentioned. The flies are evidently attracted by 
the foetid odour, as they are to Stapelia flowers, and it is probable that in 
its native home in New Guinea, this Orchid is dependent on some species of 
fly for its fertilisation. In the case of Bulbophyllum macranthum and one 
or two others the fertilising insects have been recorded by Mr. Ridley, and 
there is certainly a vast field open for enquiry to those who have the oppor- 
tunity of observing the fertilisation of Orchids in their native homes. 
R. A. RoLFE. 
DIES ORCHIDIANZ. 
I NOTE with regret that the competition for the Special Prizes offered by 
the Royal Horticultural Society for 1896, to which I more than once called 
attention, was not a success, as the following extract from the Report of the 
Orchid Committee, included in the last number of the Society’s Journal, 
will show :-—‘‘ Special Prizes for New Plants, 1896.—With the hope and 
object of encouraging individual effort and original research the Council in 
1896 offered twelve medals—six for Introduced Plants, and six for plants of 
Home production. Owing to insufficiency of competition (in several of the 
classes there were absolutely no entries, and in others only one or two at 
most) the judges appointed to deal with these classes were only able to 
award the medal in one class, as below:—Class M.—The best Orchid raised 
in this country not previously shown at any of the Society’s meetings. 
Silver-gilt Banksian Medal, to Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, for 
Lelio-cattleya x Decia alba.” 
With such a small measure of success I infer that the Society are not 
disposed to repeat the experiment. Yet I think they might very well do so, 
A competition of this kind should be permanent to be of any value, for 
