156 



Since tlie appearance of the foregoing sorts, con- 

 tinues M. Chate, M. Louise Van Houtte has intro- 

 duced a new kind (Ranunculiflora plenissima), 

 similar at first sight to Martial de Chanflourd, but 

 presenting appreciable differences— the flowers being 

 more abundant, the color paler, and the shape more 

 perfect. M. Lemoine has also obtained a new 

 double variety, Gloire de Nancy, which, in M. 

 Chafe's opinion, surpasses all that have preceded 

 it. In this, which was the result of crossing Mar- 

 tial de Chanflourd with Beaute du Suresne,the flow- 

 ers are full and well formed, though not more abun- 

 dant than in other sorts. 



From the variety Auguste Ferrier, which flowers 

 luxuriantly, and yields good seeds, M. Chate has 

 obtained a plant with flowers of a flesh-pink color, 

 in which, though the doubling is not considerable. 

 It is expected that the seeds will be numerous, and 

 that their produce will yield novel and interesting 

 results. An impulse has been given, and it only 

 remains that it should be energetically followed up 

 This done, we shall no doubt in a few years possess, 

 Pelargoniums with double flowers, the plants as 

 floriferous, and the colors as varied as in single va- 

 rieties. We may add that Gloire de Nancy was 

 shown' in fine condition at the Royal Botanic So- 

 1 ciety's show last Wednesday, and that its head of 

 flowers, bear much resemblances to those of the 

 double scarlet Lychnis. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



^ African Yegetation.— M. Du Chaillu, of go- 

 rilla fame, has just published a ''Journey to Ashango 

 Land.'' The Gardeners Chronicle, in speaking of 

 it, says: — 



Of more interest to horticulturists are the details 

 given concerning the climate of this district. West- 

 [ ern Equatorial Africa, so far as M. Du Chaillu de- 

 I scribes it, appears to be a vast forest, interspersed 

 I here and there with prairies, and with ranges of high 

 \ ground in the interior. Such a district would natu- 

 rally be not only hot, but wet ; indeed, the amount 

 of ram seems to be enormous ; while in some parts 

 the year may be divided into two seasons— a rainy 

 season extending from September till May, a dry 

 season lasting from June to August— in others it 

 may be almost said that there is a continuous rainy 

 season all the year round. The tem perature M. Du 

 Chaillu considers as not so high as that of other trop- 

 ical regions, probably from the humidity and cloud- 

 I iness of the atmosphere. The lowest degree of cold 

 noted by the author was 64° F.; the maximum tem- 

 perature 92° F.; but at the same time that the tem- 

 perature of the air was registered at 92° F., that of 



the sun when unclouded amounted to 146°, some 

 40° higher than has been noticed in this country. 



M. Du Chaillu more than once remarks upon the 

 effects of a clouded sky in lowering the thermome- 

 ter, and the similar abatement in the temperature 

 in the forests as compared with that of the open 

 country. While in a village the thermometer regis- 

 tered 92° F., the temperature in the lorest at the 

 same time, was 10° less. "The great humidity of 

 these dense shades," says M. Du Chaillu, "causes 

 an agreeable coolness, and 1 have rioticed that when 

 rain has fallen during the night, there often remains 

 some moisture on the surface of the leaves at 2 P M. , 

 showing how slow, comparatively speaking, is the 

 evaporation in these shady places." 



M. Du Chaillu does not give as many details con- 

 cerning the vegetation of these regions, which we 

 the more regret, as the researches af Mann, a little 

 to the northward of the district traversed by Du 

 Chaillu, have been exceedingly productive of rare '' 

 and interesting f )rms of vegetation. Some of the 

 Sterculiaceous plants collected by Mann would form 

 most desirable additions to the list of stove foliage 

 plants, from the grandeur of their leaves, which are 

 often of silvery whiteness on the under surface. 



Orchids, says M. Du Chaillu, abound near the 

 sea; no doubt among them are many novelties and 

 beauties worthy the search of an experienced collect- 

 or. One ef these latter has been recently figured in 

 the "Botanical Magazine," under the name of An- 

 graecum Chailluanum. 



Origin of Species.— You have all read of uncivil- 

 ized races of mankind that regard every month's 

 moon as a new creation of their gods, who, they say, 

 eat the old moons, not for their sustenance, but for 

 their glory, and to prove to mortals that they can 

 make new ones ; and they regard your denial that 

 their gods do monthly make a new moon as equiv- 

 alent to denying that they could do so if they 

 would. 



It is not so long since it was held by most scien- 

 tific men (and is so by some still) that species of 

 plants and animals were, like the savages' moons, 

 created in as many spots as we meet them in, and 

 in as great numbers as they were found at the times 

 and places of their discovery. To deny that species 

 were thus created was, in the opinion of many per- 

 sons, equivalent to denying that they could have 

 been so created. 



And I have twice been present at the annual gath- 

 erings of tribes, in such a state of advancement as 

 this, but after they had come into contact with the 

 missionaries of the most enlightened nations of man- 



