VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND BOTANY. 
69 
trees became, in their turn, objects of strong 
interest; and care was taken that no injury 
should come to them. At length it was 
ascertained that they were Beach-Plum trees; 
and they actually bore the Beach-Plum, which 
had never before been seen, except immedi- 
ately upon the sea-shore. These trees must, 
therefore, have sprung up from seeds, which 
had existed in the stratum of sea-sand pierced 
by the well-diggers; and, until this was dis- 
persed, in such a manner as to expose them 
to the air, they remained inactive. ' By what 
convulsion of the elements,' adds the narrator, 
' they had been thrown there, or how long 
they had quietly slept beneath the surface of 
the earth, must be determined by those who 
know very much more than I do.' 
" The following is an example of the same 
general fact, which is interesting from its con- 
nexion with historical events. In the year 
1715, during the rebellion in Scotland, a camp 
was formed in the King's Park (a piece of 
ground belonging to the castle) at Stirling. 
Wherever the ground was broken, broom 
sprang up, although none had ever been 
known to grow there. The plant was sub- 
sequently destroyed; but in 1745, a similar 
growth appeared, after the ground had been 
again broken up for a like purpose. Some 
time afterwards, the park was ploughed up, 
and the broom became generally spread over 
it. The same thing happened in a field in 
the neighbourhood, from the whole surface of 
which about nine inches of soil had been 
removed. The broom-seeds could not have 
been conveyed by the wind, although the 
plant is a common one in the neighbourhood, 
because they are heavy and without wings ; 
and the form of the ground is such, that no 
stream of water could have transported them, 
or have covered them afterwards with soil. 
Such an effect must have resulted from the 
operation of causes, continued through a long 
period of time."— Pp. 289— 291. 
These extracts give some notion of the 
entertaining manner in which the author con- 
ducts us through a subject which has hitherto 
been presented to us in the most uninviting 
form, and clothed in technicalities which ren- 
dered it absolutely forbidding ; we wish 
Dr. Carpenter success in his attempts to 
familiarize the unlearned classes with the 
beauties of science; and we may congratulate 
him upon having done much towards en- 
lightening those who have hitherto been, as it 
were, shut out from it. 
The botanical department consists of an 
explanation of the Linnasan classes and orders, 
with, in some cases, brief, but always compre- 
hensive, descriptions of the numerous families 
comprised in the natural orders and groups. 
The following is a portion of the description 
of the natural order Orchideae, with which we 
must conclude our extracts : — 
" The plants associated with the common 
Orchis in this order, exhibit some of the most 
curiously-interesting modificationsof structure, 
that any group in the vegetable world affords. 
Most of them are remarkable for the resem- 
blance between their oddly-shaped flowers, and 
various objects with which they may be com- 
pared; thus two species of this country are 
known as the Bee-Orchis and the Fly-Orchis, 
from the similitude between their flowers and 
those insects; whilst others are known as the 
Man-Orchis, the Lizard-Orchis, and the Lady's 
Slipper. In some foreign species there is an 
equally strong resemblance to large and 
splendid butterflies and other insects; one, 
again, reminds the observer of a grinning 
monkey; whilst another resembles an opera- 
dancer suspended by the head. The Orehideas 
of Europe grow on the ground, in meadows, 
marshes, or woods; and they are justly con- 
sidered as among the most curious and beau- 
tiful plants" of its Flora. But it is in tropical 
countries, in damp woods, or on the sides of 
hills, in a serene and equal climate, that they 
are seen in all their beauty. ' Seated on the 
branches of living trees, or resting among the 
decayed bark of fallen trunks, or running over 
mossy rocks, or hanging above the head of 
the admiring traveller, suspended from the 
gigantic arm of some monarch of the forest, 
they develop flowers of the gayest colours, 
and the most varied forms, and often fill the 
woods at night with their mild and delicate 
fragrance. For a long time such plants were 
thought incapable of being made to submit to 
the care of the gardener;, and Europeans re- 
mained almost ignorant of the most curious 
tribe in the whole vegetable kingdom. But 
it has been discovered of late years that, by 
care and perseverance, they may be brought 
to as much perfection in a hot-house as they 
acquire in their native woods; and they now 
form the pride of the best collections in Eng- 
land.' It is chiefly in the almost impenetrable 
forests of South America that the epiphytic 
species (those that grow upon the surface of 
trees) are found; but in the hot damp parts 
of the East Indies, other kinds are very abun- 
dant. Some epiphytic species are known as 
air-plants, from their power of vegetating 
when simply suspended in the air, without any 
soil or any direct supply of water, supported 
only by the moisture of the atmosphere; so 
that, when hung up by strings from the ceiling 
of a room, they will live for weeks, and even 
months, and will go on blossoming luxuriantly. 
Hence they are some of the most favourite 
ornaments of the houses in China and Japan, 
of which countries they are natives." — Pp. 
515—517. 
