334 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
terrestrial species of Lycopodium contain much of this metal, epiphytic 
species of the same genus contain none. He felt sure that some ingredient 
was wanting which had not been determined. With regard to floral 
colouring matters, Mr. Smee did not appear to have consulted recent 
researches. Prof. Church had proved that a number of reds, blues, and 
purples, though called by different names—e.g., colein in the coleus, 
erythrophyll in copper beech, fruits, &c., cenolin in black grapes and 
anthocyanin were absolutely the same thing, being represented by the 
formula Cy, H», Oy. These became purplish in neutral cells, blue in 
alkaline, and red in acid cells. Even the blue-green of a certain Ixia was 
due to an alkaline solution of the same substance. With regard to the 
beetroot, however, and plants allied to it, as the Amaranthus and buckwheat, 
he found that the red-purple was of a different nature, and he had called it 
‘“amaranthin.”’ It gave neither a scarlet nor blue re-action, neither green 
nor yellow with acids, but Prof. Church has as yet not determined its 
actual chemical composition, although he had found it to differ from 
anthocyanin by its insolubility in absolute alcohol, and by the absence from 
its spectrum of definite absorption bands. With regard to nutritive 
solutions, Prof. Church thought that the ordinary solutions for plant culture 
containing phosphates and salts of lime should be used for Orchids, not the 
solution surcharged with nitrogen compounds recommended by Mr. Smee. 
He would suggest spraying with ‘“ pulverised”’ solutions the epiphytal 
Orchids, for he had proved with Escheverias—as Boussingault had also long 
ago with other plants—that salts, if moist, could be absorbed by the surface 
of the leaf, so that when a lithium salt was placed upon a lower leaf it was 
detected in others above. Dr. McNab had previously proved the 
transmission of lithium salts imbibed by the roots throughout the plant, 
following the suggestion of Prof. Church to use this salt. Mr. Veitch and 
Dr. Masters called attention to the practice carried out by amateur Orchid 
growers of scattering fragments of carbonate of ammonia (smelling salts) so 
that the vapour might be absorbed. Mr. Henslow suggested that it might 
be absorbed with the aid of vapour of water, as he had found by experiments 
that this can be absorbed by leaves (‘ Transpiration in a Saturated 
Atmosphere,” Journ. Linn. Soc., Bot., XXIII., p- 303). 
A NEW BRITISH ORCHID. 
A MOST interesting addition to the British Flora has been made by Mr. 
Arthur Reid, M.A., F.G.S., of Trinity College, Glenalmond, Perth, namely, 
a natural hybrid between Orchis maculata and Habenaria bifolia—a plant 
which, so far as I am aware, has only once previously been recorded, 
