328 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
example of both parents together with two or three other allied species. 
With respect to those cases in which the mother parent only was produced, 
he suspected that self-fertilisation was the cause. The cross might have 
been made, but it was well known that a few grains of pollen from the 
same species would spoil the effect of any cross. Even when applied 
later the own pollen would outgrow the foreign pollen, and the effect of 
the latter would be lost. This, however, scarcely explained the case 
of Zygopetalum crossed with Odonteglossum, which alone produced the 
former. The cross had been made several times, and by experts, who 
had taken care to prevent accidents of this kind, but the result was 
always the same. It could not be ascribed to parthenogenesis, and thus 
it seemed to be a remarkable case of the prepotency of one parent. 
The subject generally was a very interesting one, and although the 
hybridisation of Orchids was largely a commercial question, it had a 
very important scientific bearing. At one time the existence of hybrids 
in a wild state was denied, and when they began to be recorded certain 
botanists refused to believe in them, calling them varieties only, and 
when too intermediate to be ignored they got over the difficulty by 
considering the supposed parents to be forms of the same species. But ~ 
hybridists have changed all that, and now several of these wild hybrids 
have been obtained by artificial crossing, and the judgment of their 
sponsors has been vindicated. Personally, he could say that the study 
of artificial hybrids and the way they combined the characters of their 
parents had taught him a great deal about natural hybrids, and it was 
remarkable how many had come to light. Only the other day he had 
to examine a plant which he had not the slightest doubt was a natural 
hybrid between Vanda ccerulea and V. Kimballiana, which had long 
been known to grow together. It came home in a batch of the latter, 
but was obviously different in the foliage, and now the flowers had 
appeared and were unmistakably intermediate. It had been called Vanda 
xX Moorei, and those who cared to examine it would find it on an adjoining 
table. To call it a new species was out of the question, and he had no 
doubt that if Mr. Veitch would cross the two species in question together 
he would obtain a similar plant. He hoped that hybridists would follow 
up some of the ideas thrown out from time to time, and he was glad to 
note that the scientific side of the question had not been lost sight of, 
for Messrs. Veitch, Sander, and others, had proved the origin of certain 
natural hybrids by direct experiment. In conclusion, he might say that 
the work of the hybridist was important commercially and also from a 
botanical standpoint, in addition to its wider biological interest. 
The Chairman, in conclusion, proposed a Vote of Thanks to the 
lecturer for his very intersting paper. 
