September 24, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
55 
bine to render the similarity complete, and the 
deception greater. Amongst early writers the Bear’s- 
ear was frequently applied to Primula auricula, the 
garden forms of which are now familiarly known as 
Auriculas, which means “little ears.” Strap-shaped 
leaves are frequently compared to tongues, and, in 
several instances, to that of certain specific animals. 
The Adder’s-tongue, Ox-tongue, Hound’s-tongue, and 
Hart’s-tongue are familiar instances of this, and serve 
their purpose admirably, in the procreation of names 
by which man may be understood by and instruct his 
fellow beings. 
Natural or other Objects Simulated. 
Amongst the heavenly bodies, sun, moon, and stars 
furnish their quota of object lessons for man’s benefit, 
and he accordingly names his Helianthemums and 
Helianthus or Sun-flowers, from the shape, colour, 
and love for sunlight ; his Lunarias or Moonworts from 
the shape of the seed pods ; his Menispermums or 
Moonseeds from the shape of the seed, resembling the 
crescent or growing moon ; and his Stellarias and Asters 
or Starworts, from the radiating or starry shape of the 
flowers ; and the Earth Star from the shape of the 
fungus, Geaster califormis. The Yegetable Sheep, 
Raoulia eximia, is a composite that grows in upland 
pastures in New Zealand, and has been so named by 
the settlers because of its white colour, and from it 
forming masses that may be readily mistaken at a 
distance for a sheep lying on the grass. Of more 
importance is the Tartarian Lamb, concerning which 
travellers were wont to relate marvellous stories. 
It consists of the decumbent stems or caudices of 
Cibotium Barometz, which are covered with a short 
yellow down, and furnished with a head, legs, and tail. 
To accentuate the similarity, and excite wonder, 
travellers relate how the lamb bent to crop the herbage. 
When drought prevailed the herbage withered up, and 
the lamb pined and died suffering, of course, from the 
same cause as the other herbage. Aristolochia ridicula 
has been compared to the head-gear'of a clown, and the 
flowers of Dicentra spectabilis to the wide breeches of 
the portly-bodied Dutchman. We have also Scull-caps, 
Lady’s-mantles, Foxgloves, Monkshoods, Shepherd’s- 
purses, Saddles, Looking-glasses, Buttercups, Bottle- 
brushes, Blue-bottles, Brandy-bottles (the latter from 
the smell or shape of the fruit), Candle-plants, Torches, 
Pitcher-plants, Bottle Gourds, Fiddle-docks, Custard 
Apples, and Apples of endless description that are not 
Apples at all, even in the broadest sense. The Pine Apple 
is neither a Pine nor an Apple, although some similarity 
may be recognised between the fruit and that of the Pine. 
Great inconsistency, incongruity, and inconvenience is 
frequently occasioned with English names in comparing 
a host of objects or widely dissimilar and unrelated 
plants to some other favourite or common and well- 
known fruit or flower. Roses, Lilies, Apples, Pears 
and Primroses are instances of this class. Singularly 
enough the latter is a borrowed name, while Rock- 
Roses, Tuberoses, Rose of Jericho, Christmas Rose, 
Guelder Rose, Rose-bay, Lily of the Valley, Tiger Lily, 
Day Lily, Belladonna Lily, Lent Lily, Trumpet Lily, 
Malay Apple, Avocad Pear, Prickly Pear and Evening 
Primrose are but a few instances of this kind of 
plagiarism. 
Ouvirandra fenestralis is the Lattice-leaf or win¬ 
dowed plant, so named from the leaf being reduced to 
the skeleton-like framework of its fibro-vascular tissue. 
Job s-tears is so named from the smooth, shining grey 
spikelets of fruits resembling a tear-drop. In Jacob’s - 
ladder we have another allusion to incidents in Scrip¬ 
ture history, the long pinnate leaves of Polemonium 
being compared to a ladder. Bachelor’s-buttons and 
Fair Maids of France is an instance of two conflicting 
names being applied to one plant, although it would 
puzzle the ingenious to discern the force of the allusion 
or trace any similarity in either case. The Telegraph- 
plant, Desmodium gyrans, is so named from the 
gyrating, intermittent, often sudden jerks or move¬ 
ments of the two small lateral leaflets, resembling in 
some remote degree the movements of the needle of a 
telegraphic battery. The economy of these erratic 
movements has never been satisfactorily explained. 
Furthermore, man has a happy knack of getting over 
difficulties, or of expressing in a roundabout or 
evasive way his disbelief in the existence of some 
object, or his disgust for the same by comparing it to a 
sea-serpent, a whale, a white elephant, or a mare’s-nest! 
Horns of Various Animals. 
As a slender, pendent, generally though not always 
soft or flexible appendage of a plant, if somewhat 
elongated, is compared to the tail of some animal, or is 
simply described as tailed, so, on the other hand, an 
elongated, erect, rigid, or hollow appendage, organ, or 
part of a plant is described as homed, or compared to 
the horn or antlers of some specific animal. Thus we 
have the Horned Poppy, referring to the long rigid 
seed-pods ; Hornwort (Ceratophyllum), from the rigid 
leaf-segments ; Horn of Plenty, from the spikelets of 
the grass Cornucopia cucullatum, and the fruit of 
Valerianella cornucopia resembling that emblematic 
object. Platycerium alcicorne (the Elk’s-horn) derives 
its name from the branching of the fertile frond resem¬ 
bling the horns of that animal ; and Phakenopsis 
cornu-cervi (the Stag’s-horn Moth Orchid), from the 
zigzag notches of the flower-scape. The most remark¬ 
able of all, however, are the Bull’s-horn and the Cow’s- 
horn. The elongated, great, black, spiny, hollow 
stipules of Acacia spheerocephala bear a striking resem¬ 
blance to the horns of a bull or some similar animal, 
and are of great importance in protecting the plant, or 
acting as a defence in several ways. When entire, their 
sharp points assist in warding off browsing animals ; 
and when old and broken, ants take up their abode in 
the hollow interior, and defend the tree against the 
attacks of another species that come to prey upon the 
leaves. The Cow’s-horn consists of the hollow stems 
of Schomburgkia tibicinis, in the interior of which ants 
also take up their abode, and act as a body-guard. An 
equally interesting fact is that the hollow stems are in 
great request among the native children of Honduras, 
who cut off both ends of the stem and use the latter as 
a trumpet, while the Orchid furnishing them is known 
as the Trumpet Plant. — J. F. 
-—>$<<»- 
OBSERVATION AND 
COMPARISON. 
Only by comparison can a man rightly estimate the 
standard he has attained. Whether his work is equal, 
inferior or superior to that of others, can only be told 
by careful observation. All professions are progressive, 
and there is no such thing as being able to reach the 
utmost limit of the knowledge to be gained. No matter 
how constantly the ground may be turned over, there 
are always fresh facts waiting to be discovered by the 
patient investigator. 
No one can know with accuracy the possibilities of 
the work to which he devotes his life, if he watches 
himself merely and measures his progress only by his 
own daily labour. A man may be unremitting in his 
efforts ; labouring early and late ; thoughtful and 
observant; yet, should he neglect the manj 7 opportuni¬ 
ties that surround him of watching and observing his 
fellow labourers, he will never reach the summit, but 
will ever be trammelled by prejudice and ignorance. 
A gift highly to be valued is originality. But even 
the man who possesses this faculty, should he depend 
entirely upon his own invention and resources, will 
never be renowned for genius among his fellows. When 
we read of the inner lives of great men, we wonder at 
the painstaking care with which they seek for food for 
their brains ; we remark also that they are ever on the 
watch to seize upon the minutest fact which may be of 
use to the work to which they are devoted. Vain men 
only are content with their own standard, and foolishly 
imagine that the knowledge which they have attained 
comprises all the information that can be gathered upon 
the subject, and are utterly indifferent to the fact that, 
to the student, they betray their ignorance as soon as 
they open their' mouth. 
Observation, then, is the faculty which must be 
cultivated if we would know ourselves as we are known. 
To compare, justly, our work with that of others, we 
must cultivate all our perceptive faculties. But this is 
systematically done only by a few. For example, how 
few there are who, walking every day of their lives 
through a certain street—yes, perhaps, even two or 
three times each day—could state with perfect accuracy 
the characteristics of every house passed on their way ! 
Intent upon our own plans and purposes, we neglect to 
observe the plans and purposes of others. Not a walk do 
we take but some new fact may be added to our store¬ 
house of knowledge. 
Florists need as much as any men to improve their 
powers of observation. The memory may be so trained 
that anything once committed to it will never be for¬ 
gotten. The perceptive powers of our nature can also 
be so cultivated that any fact likely to be of use to us 
in our work may be noted and stored away for future 
use. But to be observant, and consequently, pro¬ 
gressive, we must not be content to stay within our 
little field. There are hundreds of other workers all 
as eager and industrious as we. A ramble amongst 
their fields will soon teach us the condition of our own. 
"Weak indeeed must be the ambition of that man who, 
seeing a culture superior to his own, does not brace his 
energies to emulate, if not surpass his wiser neighbour. 
It is often said that florists who go gadding around 
neglect their own work by so doing. Moderation is a 
virtue in all things. A wise man can generally tell 
the length of his rope. A humble searcher after truth 
will never deteriorate into a gossip. Students are 
always ready to recognise and welcome each other, and 
can be relied upon to freely use the key which will 
unlock their stores of knowledge. 
It is for the purpose of extending our horizon and 
broadening our views, that conventions are held, and 
papers pertaining to our work are written. Those that 
diligently attend to the thoughts expressed, cannot 
help being benefited. No two men look upon the 
same thing with the same eyes; one may see a shorter 
and more direct route to the end that is to be gained, 
than does the other. 
Let us each, then, look upon observation and com¬ 
parison as necessary parts of our education ; twin 
sisters always at the right hand of every man, and 
enabling them to become zealous and careful, that all 
his efforts may have the stamp of careful preparation. 
Only by going where the honey is to be found, can the 
bees lay up a store. Staying at home is synonymous 
with an empty hive.— A. E. Whittle, in American 
Florist. __ 
Hardening ||otes from 
COTLAND. 
North of Scotland Horticultural Asso¬ 
ciation. —This is an association devoting itself to 
the principles of horticulture, and holding monthly 
meetings, at which various papers are read dealing 
with practical horticulture in all its branches. It is 
also dealt with from a scientific point of view by various 
prominent residents in the city of Aberdeen, and 
practically by some of the principal gardeners in the 
county. A discussion follows, in which the various 
points at issue are thrashed out according to the 
experience of the speakers. “Potato Culture,” 
“Dinner-table Decoration,” “Rose Propagation,” 
“Peas,” “Lichens,” “Should science or practice have 
most prominence in our discussions upon horticultural 
subjects?” and “On the origin and history of some 
plants commonly cultivated in gardens in the north of 
Scotland,” are subjects that have been read and dis¬ 
cussed during the session for 1885-1886, and which are 
now printed in pamphlet form. 
The meetings are held in the Young Men’s Christian 
Institute, 198, Union Street, Aberdeen ; and the asso¬ 
ciation having a membership of between 200 and 300, 
is at the present time in a more flourishing condition 
than similar societies in Dundee, Broughty Ferry, or 
Edinburgh. That under notice was first formed about 
seven years ago, and still continues to be largely 
attended and patronised, while additional members 
enrol themselves on the list from time to time. A 
meeting was held on September 16th, when the 
business on hand was to elect officers for the next 
session, to record the progress of horticulture during 
the last fifty years, and to exercise the minds of 
members as to how the affairs of the society may best 
be promoted. The secretary also read the report of 
the past session, which testified to the success of the 
association. 
Jubilee prizes, consisting of two handsome Gold 
Medals, have been raised by voluntary subscription 
during the past summer. One of the Medals has been 
awarded for an essay on “The principal points to be 
considered in judging fruits, flowers, plants, and 
vegetables.” The other was granted to the member 
who produced ‘ ‘ The best plan for the arrangement of 
a kitchen garden not to exceed one acre in extent, with 
a list of the trees and small fruit bushes best suited to 
the various exposures, and a brief description of their 
mode of arrangement.” The prizes were to be awarded 
to members of the association, and they only were 
allowed to compete. The envelopes bearing the mottoes 
of the successful competitors, and enclosing the names 
of the same, were opened on the evening of the 16th, 
and the results announced. The meeting being held 
on the night of the autumn flower show of the Royal 
Horticultural Society of Aberdeen, a large attendance 
of the gardeners of the surrounding counties was 
secured, the coincidence of the two meetings being 
very favourable to the success of the evening from the 
fact that a considerable number are members of both 
associations. 
