412 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



squares of glass should be avoided, par- 

 ticularly if transparent glass is used. In 

 regard to ventilation, a very small amount 

 of fresh air admitted near the floor of 

 the house will be safest ; but ample means 

 must be provided near the top for the 

 escape of impure air, and also for regu- 

 lating the temperature during the heat of 

 summer. Where the collection is large, 

 and of a mixed character, two houses are 

 indispensable, one for the natives of the 

 Western hemisphere, which grow in rather 

 a low temperature and drier atmosphere ; 

 the other for those that are natives of the 

 East, as they require both more heat and 

 moisture, particularly during their grow- 

 ing season. The interior should be fitted 

 up with open cast-iron stages or platforms, 

 to keep the roots dry, and admit of a free 

 circulation of air to pass all round the 

 plants. 



§ 6. — THE AQUARIUM. 



Notwithstanding the beauty of aquatic 

 plants, and the interesting circumstances 

 connected with them, and despite their 

 cultivation being attended with no diffi- 

 culty, it is singular that, while expensive 

 structures are erected for almost every 

 other description of plants, this country 

 can scarcely, at the present day, boast of 

 a dozen dedicated to the cultivation of 

 aquatics. True it is, that since the intro- 

 duction of the Victoria Regia, the queen 

 of all known aquatics, several structures 

 have been remodelled to suit its cultiva- 

 tion, and some few entirely built for it. 



Of the aquariums at present existing in 

 this country, we may mention those at 

 Chatsworth, Kew, Sion House, that of the 

 Royal Botanical Society in the Regent's 

 Park, Messrs Veitch's at Exeter, Messrs 

 Knight and Perry's, that of the Sheffield 

 Botanic Garden, and that of Dalkeith 

 Park, as the principal, all of which date 

 their origin to a desire on the part of their 

 owners to cultivate the Victoria. A new 

 aquarium, upon improved principles, is now 

 in course of erection in the royal gardens 

 at Kew. The following paragraph upon 

 this subject appeared recently in the 

 " Liverpool Chronicle," from its style, it 

 has been written by one highly compe- 

 tent to the task : — " Few, perhaps, are 

 aware of the great beauty which the tro- 

 pical aquatic tribes present under good 



cultivation. They are not well adapted 

 for small houses, but look best in houses 

 having a vestibule, or circular centre. 

 They may be made in various forms, ac- 

 cording to the taste of the proprietor : if 

 in a square or oblong vestibule, the aqua- 

 rium should be of the same shape ; if in 

 a circular house, or part of the house, the 

 form may be varied and much ornamented 

 — a vase-shaped basin, circular cistern, or 

 any other form suitable to the style of the 

 building : a jet-d'-eau in the centre is a 

 great improvement. The interior must 

 be of various depths, to suit the plants of 

 various sizes, for which reason steps are 

 usually formed from the circumference to 

 the centre — the water being thus made 

 shallower at the edge, to suit the smaller 

 plants. Upon these steps or shelves 

 pebbles and soil are laid, in which the 

 roots are planted ; and gold and silver 

 fishes may be made to add to the interest 

 of this group." As an inducement to 

 amateurs to turn their attention this way, 

 we cannot resist the temptation of com- 

 pleting this excellent paragraph : " And 

 what, we fancy some one inquiring, can 

 you grow in water, that is so beautiful ? 

 We will give a selection of plants for a stove, 

 and also for a greenhouse aquarium. In 

 the former we would not forget to have the 

 Papyrus antiquorum, so interesting from 

 its having furnished the writing paper of 

 the ancients : the very name conjures up 

 a museum of mummies, scrolls, sarcophagi, 

 and manuscripts of the classics of ancient 

 Greece and Rome : the beauty of the plant, 

 independent of other points of interest, 

 renders it worthy of a place in the stove 

 aquarium. The other species adapted to 

 this place are P. odorata and P. laxiflorus, 

 which are also elegant gramineous plants. 

 We have also seen the rice plant growing 

 in the same way : it is very pretty, being 

 more graceful than the common oat, and 

 much taller. Then there is the magnifi- 

 cent Nelumbium speciosum, with its large 

 emerald green, round, floating leaves, fine 

 large rose-coloured flowers, and its Pytha- 

 gorean associations, the seed being sup- 

 posed to be the sacred bean of the 

 Egyptians and Pythagoreans. N. Tamara 

 is a fine species, with azure blue flowers ; 

 also N. jamaicense, and N. luteum, with 

 bright yellow ones. The beautiful genus 

 Nympheea, or water-lily, also furnishes 

 some lovely ornaments for the aquarium : 



