is 
TIIE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
NEPENTHEUS SANGUINEA. 
The small specimen of this rare plant to which we 
referred in our last number, was purchased at Mr. 
Micholls’ sale by auction by Messrs. Veitch for upwards 
of 14 <1. Messrs. Veitch immediately sold it again to 
another purchaser; but during one or two of the chilly 
days, when it could not be removed from Chelsea, we 
secured a good drawing of the plant with its blood-red 
pitcher for a future number of the Floral Magazine. 
The plant is very rare in collections, as a specimen 
belonging to Mr. Mendell was sold some time since for 
50/. Nepentheus sanguinea bears one of the largest 
of all known pitchers; a dried specimen in the Kew 
Museum, we are told, originally held a pint of water. 
RE VI EW. 
Domestic Floriculture, Window Gardening, and Floral 
Decorations. By F. W. Bcrbidge. Blackwood & 
Sons. 
Most people appreciate a tasteful home, and many are 
tempted to envy those whose wealth enables them to 
cover their walls and fill their cabinets with costly spe- 
cimens of pictorial and plastic art ; but few are aware 
at how small cost comparatively a home may be made 
delightfully tasteful by the products of Nature’s inimi- 
table pencil and chisel. Flowers have always been ad- 
mired, if for no other reason, at least for the brilliant 
colouring of their blossoms ; but it is gratifying to ob- 
serve that not colour only, but beauty of form and foliage 
and gracefulness of habit are now much more highly 
appreciated than formerly. Floral decoration has some 
advantages over that of art. Though less lasting, it 
admits of an endless variety, delighting by its perpetual 
freshness, and affording an active instead of a passive 
pjleasure in devising new combinations. The care and 
attention also which plants require afford a healthy and 
instructive recreation for leisure hours, for no intelligent 
person could devote him or herself to plant culture on ever 
so small a scale without making some observations on the 
nature of the objects of his care, and gratifying a desire 
which would naturally arise for further knowledge. To 
such, the book before us will be a most acceptable and 
valuable acquisition. It is divided into three parts: 
1. Cultural; 2. Ornamental; 3. Descriptive. In the first 
we have practical directions for plant culture in the 
house, in the window and balcony, in glazed cases, in 
baskets, &c., with instructions as to propagation, soil, 
potting, manures, watering, ventilating, protecting from 
insects, hybridising, &c., concluding with a calendar of 
operations. The second part treats of bouquets, wreaths, 
vase and dinner-table decoration, arrangements of plants 
in rooms, &c., drying flowers and ferns, skeletonizing 
leaves, odour and perfumes, leaf printing, church deco- 
ration, and flowers for cemeteries. In the third part, 
we have a descriptive list of plants suitable for cultiva- 
tion, and of implements, materials, and appliances for 
indoor gardening. The whole is illustrated by about 
200 excellent woodcuts, many of which are old familiar 
friends, but not the less useful on that account. With 
such an admirable, clear, and practical manual as this, 
we think no one of ordinary care and intelligence could 
fail to succeed in the delightful art of domestic flori- 
culture. F. L. S. 
CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
B. S. Williams, Victoria Nurseries, Upper Holloway. 
— A Catalogue of Orchids, Ferns, Palms, and general 
Stove and Greenhouse Plants ; Roses, Ornamental Hardy 
Plants, &c., &c. 
Dickson and Co., Edinburgh. — Descriptive Catalogue 
of Florists’ flowers. 
Thomas S. Ware, Tottenham. — A Selection of New, 
Rare, and Choice Hardy Perennials. 
