102 
GRIFFINIA I1YACINTIIINA. 
life, and would we could have said of bis 
amiable wife's troubles. 
"On Wednesday, the 13th of December, 
1843, he sent me into London to see the 
assignees, and to endeavour to bring them to 
(.rins our kind and excellent friend, the late 
Mr. Joseph Strutt, having promised to lend 
us money for that purpose. The assignees, how- 
ever, refused to accept the terms we offered, 
unless Mr. Loudon would also give up to 
them his edition of'Repton,' which he was 
most unwilling to do, as the debt on that work 
was comparatively small; and, consequently, 
he had reason to hope, that the income pro- 
duced by it would be soonest available for 
the support of his family. He was accordingly 
very much agitated when I told him the result 
of my mission ; but he did not on that account 
relax in his exertions ; on the contrary, he 
continued dictating 'Self-Instruction'till twelve 
o'clock at night. When he went to bed he 
could not sleep, and the next morning he rose 
before it was light. He then told me he had 
determined to sacrifice his edition of 'Repton' 
in order to have his affairs settled before he 
died ; adding, ' but it will break my heart to 
do so.' He repeated, however, that he would 
make the sacrifice, but he seemed reluctant to 
send me into town to give his consent; and 
most fortunate was it, as, if I had gone to 
town that morning, I should not have been 
with him when he died. He now appeared 
very ill, and told me he thought he should 
never live to finish 'Self- Instruction ;' but that 
he would ask his friend Dr. Jamieson, to whom 
he had previously spoken on the subject, to 
finish the work for him. Soon after this he 
became very restless, and walked several times 
from the drawing-room to his bed-room and 
back again. I feel that I cannot continue 
these melancholy details : it is sufficient to say, 
that, though his body became weaker every 
moment, his mind retained all its vigour to 
the last, and that he died standing on his feet. 
Fortunately, I perceived a change taking place 
in his countenance, and I had just time to 
clasp my arms round him, to save him from 
falling, when his head sank upon my shoulder, 
and he was no more." — Pp. xlvii. xlviii. 
Let us hope that the present work may 
prove a fortunate one for the widow. We 
ought, perhaps, to have gone into some of the 
details, and described it ; but it will be suf- 
ficient for the present occasion to say, that it is 
like all the author's efforts ; the gardener only 
has to make himself master of the lessons to 
become a scholar, as well as a gardener ; there 
is advice upon all the subjects that can interest 
him, and if he can but store his mind with the 
knowledge which the book imparts, he will be 
fitted for the highest station he can aspire to. 
The life of the author possessed such interest 
that we could not shorten our extracts, and 
the few examples we have given will even now 
present but a faint idea of his labours in the 
cause of British Gardening and Gardeners. 
GRIFFINIA HYACINTIHNA. 
(Ker.) 
THE IIYACINTIIINE, OR VIOLET-COLOURED 
GRIFFINIA. 
Tins plant was introduced into this country 
from Brazil in 1815, and is consequently not 
a new plant, though one of considerable rarity 
and beauty. It belongs to the natural family 
of Amaryllids, and, unlike the majority of the 
plants of the order, the prevailing colour of its 
flowers is a fine ultramarine blue, of a pecu- 
liarly soft and rich tint. 
It is very nearly related to the genus Ama- 
ryllis ; indeed, the resemblance is so close, that 
on its first introduction it was referred to that 
family ; and it was only found necessary to 
remove it, and constitute a new genus after 
the introduction of other species. 
The present plant is a bulbous one, re- 
quiring the temperature of the stove ; it has 
two or three recumbent, ovate-oblong leaves, 
which are prettily latticed by veins crossing 
the longitudinal nerves : the flowers are pro- 
duced in a sub-capitate umbel ; they are 
funnel-shaped, gaping, of six segments, which 
are pure white in the centre, with a beautiful 
broad blue margin. There are several slight 
varieties, which differ principally in the shape 
and breadth of the segments of the flower, 
and in the shade of colour. They are not large 
growing plants, seldom exceeding a foot in 
height. They grow freely in equal parts of 
turfy loam, peat, and white sand. 
When at rest, a state into which these, in 
common with other bulbous plants, require to 
be brought, they may be set away on a cool, 
dry shelf in the green-house or stove ; if 
possible, this rest should be induced in the 
winter, so that the growth may be effected 
under the advantage of the light of summer. 
As soon as growth commences, they will 
require to be watered more or less freely, 
gradually increasing the supply until they 
reach their full vigour : they ought to be kept 
in a light place in the stove, away from the 
extreme heat, which sometimes is experienced 
at that part of the house where the influence 
of the artificial heating apparatus is most 
strongly felt; they delight, however, in a slight, 
mild, and genial bottom heat. When in 
flower, they may be removed to a warm position 
in a green-house, where they will last in flower 
much longer. All this time they require liberal 
watering. When the flowers fade, the leaves 
remain for a length of time, and water must 
