HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



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porphyry, the purple tints ; serpentine, or verde antique, the 

 green ; black and white marbles, black and white ; and lapis 

 lazuli, the blue. In the tUe, the colours are produced as 

 follows : — The buff and red colours are native Staffordshire 

 clays ; blue is produced by a mixture of wliite clays stained 

 with oxide of cobalt ; white is a mixture of white clays 

 procured from Devonshire and Cornwall ; chocolate is the red 

 Staffordshire clay stained with manganese. Green is produced 

 by staining the white clays with oxide of chrome. 



The alcove behind the dais is one of the most charming 

 parts of the Conservatory. The front is composed of a double 

 row of terra-cotta pillars, like those of the Lateran Arcades ; and 

 the Appold pump and smaU engine, situated behind, and below, 

 are screened off from the Conservatory by a partition, on one 

 side of which a door admits those who wish to examine them to 

 a smaU gallery, whence they may be seen at work. Above these 

 terra-cotta piUars is a recess, in which are placed a number of 

 exotics, and some creeping and pendent trailing plants, which 

 hang down in front. 



Along the back wall, ascending the stairs, creepers also grow 

 trained upon trellises ; and trailing plants depend from cofbels 

 on the wall of the corridor. Pendent baskets filled with flowers 

 are frec[uent throughout the building. 



Many beautiful and interesting plants are placed in the 

 Conservatory, most of them being donations from the Fellows 

 themselves. There is a good collection of the different kinds 

 of Orange-trees, two of the finest of which were presented by 

 the Earl of Aberdeen. There are several very fine specimens 

 of the Norfolk Island Pine, the largest of which were presented 



