July 13, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



35 



Natural =&i$tov%* 



THE ORCHIDS : WHAT ARE THEY ? 

 There are probably no plants, not directly subser- 

 vient to our bodily wants which, in the present 



sect who bow down to sunflowers and dandelions, to 

 marigoldsand dog-daisies — when he gazes on an orchid in 

 flower is smitten at first with wonder, which rapidly 

 passes into something verging upon affection. He is 

 simply fascinated by their graceful forms, the purity and 

 the exquisite harmony of their colours, and the delicacy 



til 'rS/'J- 



day, win so much attention as the Orcliidaacc, they 

 appeal to so many phases of our nature and attract men of 

 the most different tastes. The true lover, of the 

 beautiful — we do not here speak of that pseudo-esthetic 



of their perfumes. The biologist, as he contemplates,, 

 these flowers, is compelled, whatever be his preposses- 

 sions to discard the notion of the " fixity of species " 

 as a dream of the past. He sees here hybridism as 



