162 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [JUNE, 1903. 
Temple had been available at Ghent, and subject to the classification 
existing there. And there is the further possibility that such a schedule in 
England would have drawn other exhibitors. A list of unfilled classes 
at Ghent was given at page 151, but a considerable number of them could 
have been filled to overflowing from the Temple exhibits. The fact is that, 
apart from the different local conditions in the two countries, the Ghent 
Show was too early for many Orchids, and, owing to the lateness of the 
season, we heard of some choice varieties of Odontoglossum crispum that 
were intended for the Temple Show, but could not be got out in time. As 
it was, it was a remarkably fine show, but the material might have been 
arranged to better advantage under other conditions. 
A surprise was in store for some of the exhibitors at the Temple, in the 
shape of an issue of the Lindley Medal. It is evidently a forgotten honour, 
for I heard enquiries as to its value and significance, which recalled a 
-discussion which took place when the Victoria Medal of Honour was 
instituted some five years ago. It was summarised by me at the time 
(O. R., v., pp. 154, 153). The Lindley Medal was instituted in com- 
‘memoration of the invaluable services rendered to horticulture in general 
and the Royal Horticultural Society in particular, by the late Dr. Lindley, 
and was to be given preferentially for excellence in cultivation. This Medal 
‘seems to have been singularly unfortunate. It appears that in 1867 it was 
awarded to Mr. Philip Parkes for an exhibit of three Phalznopsis 
Schilleriana, at South Kensington. Shortly afterwards Mr. G. Eyles wrote 
that the Medal was in preparation and might Bevexpected in the course of a 
fortnight. Seven years later Colonel Davenport wrote that when the 
distribution of Lindley Medals took place the exhibitor should not be ovet- 
looked, a promise repeated a year later ; but thirty years afterwards it had 
not arrived. And the writer sorrowfully added—“ I have long given up any 
hope that may have lingered through many years that the promises of 
the secretaries will be redeemed. Still, I may be pardoned in desiring 
‘to know whether others actually received the Medals ?.” 
The late Mr. James Anderson seems to have had a similar experience, 
‘with two splendid examples of Odontoglossum grande sent up from 
Meadow Bank at about the same time, both having branched panicles, one 
‘with sixteen, the other with fifteen flowers, of extraordinary size and 
development. But he never received the Medal, and he concluded by saying 
that ‘ the Lindley Medal ought not to be lost among horticultural honours.” 
To which I added, “ it certainly deserves a better fate.” Let us hope that 
the discussion has borne fruit. At all events five Lindley Medals were 
awarded for groups of Orchids at the recent Temple show, and we may 
