CXXvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



choice stove plants; Orchids, Palms, Nepenthes, Ferns, &c, being 

 exceptionally well represented. The General Horticultural Com- 

 pany sent a large and beautiful group of Palms, Ferns, Gloxinias, 

 and others, the central plant being a fine specimen of the beauti- 

 fully variegated Phyllanthus nivosus. Messrs. Osborn and Son, 

 Fulham, had a pleasing arragement of fine-foliage plants ; and Mr. 

 Aldous, South Kensington, exhibited a graceful mode of decorating 

 a fire grate and mantelshelf. Messrs. Dick Radclyffe and Co., 

 High Holborn, contributed a charming arrangement for a grotto ; 

 and Mr. Cannell, Swanlcy, staged a large collection of trusses of 

 Verbenas representing more than 150 varieties, very bright and 

 rich in colour. 



The grounds were illuminated with Messrs. Siemens' electric 

 light, which proved on this occasion exceptionally brilliant and 

 steady, and upwards of eight thousand coloured lamps, which were 

 arranged spirally up the stems of trees, in festoons from tree to tree, 

 among the branches, and around the fountains, considerable taste 

 being displayed in the arrangement. Coloured fires were employed 

 at intervals, but owing to the stillness of the air the smoke some- 

 what marred the effect. In the conservatory the Kensington Ama- 

 teur Choral Society sang an admirable selection of part songs, and 

 on the terrace the bands of the Royal Horse Guards and the Life 

 Guards contributed greatly to the pleasure of the visitors. Under 

 the superintendence of the Secretary and members of the Council, 

 Mr. Barron the Superintendent, and Mr. Dick the Assistant Secre- 

 tary, carried out the arrangements with great efficiency; indeed in 

 every respect this was probably the most successful meeting of the 

 kind ever held by the Society. 



