176 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ JIarch 1, 1888. 
of file latter are seen at a glance, the flowers of great size and well meriting 
the name bestowed upon it. Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, and many other 
large genera are represented in a similarly extensive manner, but in what 
may be termed the miscellaneous collection, the plants in flower at the 
present time of Angrincum Sanderianum (fig. 24) are most conspicuous. 
The plant is one of the introductions of Messrs. Sander & Co. from the 
Comoro Islands, and was recently certificated at South Kensington, 
when our illustration was prepared from the plant shown. The flowers 
are pure white, and are borne in long slender graceful drooping racemes, 
which have had as many as twenty-five to thirty flowers each. It is well 
adapted for basket culture, and though usually grown in a warm house 
it has been quite satisfactory in a temperature as low as 55°. It may be 
classed amongst the really useful Orchids, as it is easily grown and most 
profuse in flowers. 
As already mentioned adjoining the south corridor are the ware¬ 
houses, &c., which are in three floors. The upper is occupied with 
printing room and offices in connection with the production of that fine 
illustrated work on Orchids, the “ Keichenbachia,” issued by this firm. 
The potting and unpacking departments occupy other floors, and the 
ground floor is devoted to the work of packing and transport. Piles of 
huge cases are seen that are being rapidly opened and their contents 
examined, for it can be imagined that with sixteen collectors at work in 
as many different regions the supply of imported plants is an extensive 
one, indeed it is surprising how they can all find purchasers. Profits 
must be large occasionally, but heavy losses have also to be met, for 
undue delay in transport in a tropical climate often means the loss of 
thousands of valuable plants collected at great expense. 
Only a few words can be accorded to the old nursery in the town, 
though it deserves a full notice. Fourteen compact span-roof houses 
with a corridor at the end are devoted to Cy pripediums of all the choicest 
species, hybrids, and varieties obtainable, with Phalaenopses, Vandas, 
Cattleyas, Pescatoreas, and innumerable others, while experiments in 
crossing and seed-raising are there being carried out on a large scale. 
It only remains to add that the presiding genius of this great estab¬ 
lishment is Mr. F. Sander, who possesses a remarkable share of intelli¬ 
gent enterprise and energy, and he is assisted by a thoroughly practical 
manager in Mr. J. Godseff. 
HEATING AND VENTILATING NEW BUILDINGS AT 
ETON. 
The Governors of Eton College have found it necessary to augment 
the accommodation of the College by the erection of extensive additions, 
comprising a new chapel, museum, and numerous class rooms. These 
works are now being carried out from the designs and under the 
direction of A. W. Blomfield, Esq., M.A. In the present day much 
greater attention is paid to the warming and ventilating of such build¬ 
ings than was formerly the case, and the necessary arrangements for 
effecting these purposes are to be carried out by Messrs. J. Weeks & Co., 
of Chelsea, to whom Mr. Blomfield has entrusted this branch of the 
work. The cost of the new buildings is about £40,000. The system to 
be adopted is that of admitting fresh warm air into each room by pass¬ 
ing it through Weeks’ hydrocaloric warming and ventilating coils, 
which have of late years been much used in all sorts of public and pri¬ 
vate buildings and by Her Majesty’s Government, and the action of 
which is consequently pretty generally understood. They admit, day 
and night, a constant current of fresh warm air into the building, either 
moist or dry at pleasure, no cold air whatever being admitted in severe 
weather. 
The arrangements for carrying oS the vitiated air are on a somewhat 
comprehensive scale, and constitute a new departure in ventilation. 
The warm respired air, from the upper part of each room, will be drawn 
through ventilators specially constructed to prevent down draught, into 
large horizontal air ducts placed against the ceiling of the various 
passages. These ducts will be the full width of the passages, and will 
be formed by means of a false ceiling, with a space of about 2 feet be¬ 
tween it and the floor above. This is a novel and effective means of 
getting over the difficulty, which appears to have been long felt in pro¬ 
viding space for veirtilating shafts, and that without at all injuring the 
passages, the height of which, as a rule, is very much out of proportion 
to the width. These horizontal air ducts will meet at a large vertical 
air shaft, which will pass out through the roof and be surmounted with 
a special cowl in the form of an ornamental turret. By means of a 
simple and efficient gas apparatus placed in this vertical shaft, it will 
be made a powerful exhauster, and will confirm and strengthen the up¬ 
ward tendency already possessed by the vitiated air, will draw in a 
steady and constant current from the rooms and pass it out above the 
roof of the building without the possibility of return. 
The advantage of this arrangement will be felt both summer and 
winter. In the summer a constant stream of fresh cool air will be drawn 
through the rooms, and in the winter a constant stream of fresh warm 
air, and that without opening either windows or doors. The whole 
atmosphere of the building can thus be changed two or more times, if 
necessary, each hour. 
THE WINTER ACONITE, ERANTHIS HYEMALIS. 
A SHRUBBEKY border here affords a striking ilustration at the pre¬ 
sent time of the value of this plant for shady positions under large trees 
or any shady woodland walk where its roots would not bo disturbed. 1 am 
told the roots were planted about twenty-five years ago in several small 
patches ; they now cover a space of ground CO feet by 30 feet with their 
rich yellow flowers, and continue spreading in all directions, large quan¬ 
tities of seedlings appearing every year, \\dth us they are the first of the 
spring flowers, as they appear about a-fortnight before the Snowdrops 
are in flower, and are consequently much appreciated. We find them 
very useful for decorating the mansion if the roots are carefully lifted 
and tied in moss. After two or three days in the house they may be 
replanted and will flower again the ne.xt season. They are also very 
pretty for dinner table deeoration, fcc., when gathered, and many other 
purposes.—W. II. Divers, KetUm Hall, Stamford. 
The Means op Protection Possessed by Plants. —Mr. F. M. 
Campbell, F.Z.S., F.L.S., &c., President of the Hertfordshire Natural 
History Society, recently delivered the Presidential address on the above 
subject at the annual meeting of that Society held at the Free Library, 
Watford. The different means of protection touched on were as follows : 
Protection by moans of concealment, protection by means of objection¬ 
able flavour ; protection by means of objectionable flavours and colour ; 
protection by means of appliances ; protection by means of mimicry ; 
protection of seeds and spores. In his introductory remarks Mr. Camp¬ 
bell stated that just as weak nations require special guarantees for their 
independence so do weak organisms require special protective modifica¬ 
tions, and instances of this occurring in plants are common. In regard 
to concealment of plants, one of the most interesting cases of “ hiding ” 
was seen in the hardy Cyclamens, where, after the flower falls off in 
January the capsules become wholly or partially buried, and the safety 
of the seeds, which do not ripen till June, is secured. As to protection 
by means of objectionable flavour several well known plants were men¬ 
tioned, including Rhododendrons, Ferns, Mosses, Aconite, Hemlock, 
Hellebore, &c., and it was also stated that the flowers or petals of plants 
were in general more acrid than their leaves, h^nce they are much sel- 
domer eaten by insects. Among many instances of protection by means 
of appliances were mentioned the Holly and Thistles, and in connection 
with the latter Mr. Campbell remarked that their armament was very 
necessary, as they were when erushed excellent food for horses and 
cattle. Speaking of protection by means of mimicry Mr. i Campbell 
explained that what was meant by the expression was that one plant 
was so much like another that an observer could not distinguish between 
the two without critical examination ; for instance the Dead Nettle being 
exceedingly like the common Stinging Nettle, which is avoided by many 
animals. Light seeds were protected by being carried away by the 
wind. Nuts were either made inconspicuous or armed with a spiny 
covering. The gay coloured fruits were an invitation to a repast, and 
contain pips which passed through the animals eating their pulpous 
covering with an unimpaired or possibly augmented vitality. In con¬ 
clusion he said that whatever clearness of intellectual vision mankind 
might obtain in the future, they would be better able than ourselves to 
realise that they have but read a few syllables from the title page of the 
Book of Nature. 
We have received notices of the following fixtures for the Shows of 
1888 
National Chrysanthemum Society, Metropolitan Shows, September 
12th and 13th ; November 7th and 8th ; and January 9th and 10th, 1889. 
Provincial Show at Sheffield, November Kith and 17th. 
Kingston-on-Thames, November (5th and 7th. 
Portsmouth, November 7th, 8th, and 9th. 
Teddington, November 8th and 9th. 
Southend, November 13th. 
Brighton, November 13th and 14th. 
Putney, November 13th and 14th. 
Winchester, November 13th and 14th. 
Reading, November 15th. 
Pembroke, November 15th. 
Lindfield (Sussex), November 15th and lOth. 
Sheffield and West Riding, November IGth and 17th. 
Liverpool, November 20th and 21st. 
Birmingham, November 21st and 22nd. 
Hull, November 22nd and 23rd. 
Pontefract, November 23rd. 
A NOVEL CLASS 
Mr. W. Holmes of Hackney has proposed that tlm National Chrys¬ 
anthemum Society adopt a novel class at the next Westminster Exhi¬ 
bition. The general plan is as follows—That a challenge trophy and 
£10 in money be ofiered for the best collection of forty-eight blooms, 
twenty-four incurved and twenty-four Japanese, contributed by any 
Chrysanthemum or horticultural society on the following conditions— 
First, The entry to be made in the name of the Society. Second, An 
