220 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
March 12, 1904. 
Here, again, we have an account of the Campanero or Bedl- 
bird, which is some evidence of it® being well a,way from the 
presence of human habitation®. Ajs man encroaches upon it® 
domain, this bird of the primeval forest simply retires into 
some more distant part. A climber is known as the Water 
Vine (Doliocarpus), and here the naturalist tells us that a® 
they were exceedingly thirsty, they cut pieces from 3 ft. to 
4 ft, in length, and thus obtained a small quantity of clear 
water. A number of these stems had to be cut before their 
thirst was quenched. 
He then gives a, description of a field of Bromelias, which 
may be compared to. Pineapple®, with longer and stronger 
spines on, the leaves. Before they coiuld get across the plain 
on which these grew they had.to hew their way through the 
same by a continuous use of the hunting knife. Many of the 
* plants bore bunches of yellow fruits, and the naturalist and his 
Indians had a good feast. All of them suffered a good deal of 
painful itchings of the lips, tongue, and palate for somei time 
afterwards, and whenever he spat his saliva was streaked with 
blood. Another species, which he names B. Pinguin, ha® 
similar effects when eaten. He does not tell us the cause of 
this, probably because a, microscope had not formed part of 
his equipment on the journey. Wei have not examined the 
fruit of a Bromelia, but. we strongly suspect, this effect, is due 
to the presence of raphideis or crystals of oxalate of lime 
which do occur in various exotic fruits, and are very disagree¬ 
able after the eater has proceeded some time in, feeding upon 
the same. 
Here also we hear of Cattleya superba., not very common in 
Britain, but nevertheless successfully cultivated by some 
Orchid growers. Mr. Andre speaks of it as growing abunh 
dantly on, the rocky islands in the river at the rapids of Mura 
and Piritu, where they stayed for three weeks, ransacking* the 
neighbourhood in quest, of natural objects. 
La Prision is one of the settlements on the Oaura, the huge 
tributary of the Orinoco, to which Mr. Andre devoted most of 
hi® time while travelling in. these region®. Sugar is, made at 
this station by very primitive crushing machine®, consisting 
chiefly of trunks of trees and a, long wooden lever which acts 
in. crushing* the cane. Although this, is the: simplest form, of 
machine which we have described, there is also a larger one 
worked by cattle, and which crushes the cane by means of 
vertical rollers 1 . This mill isl the property of a. man who is 
evidently one of the old Portuguese settlers: or a, descendant.. 
Most, of the land under cultivation in this district belonged to 
him. The only idea they had of conveying the juice from, the 
crushing machine to, the caldron was to carry it in large 
calabashes, but when shown, that it could be. conducted to thei 
caldron by a, piece of Bamboo, this expedient was readily 
adopted. 
An important Palm, of this, neighbourhood is the Cabbage 
Palm,, but, although thei young leave® of this are eaten by the 
people.,at Trinidad, at the mouth of the Orinoco, and considered 
a delicacy, the practice was unknown at La, Prision. There 
is % notable beetle, the grub of which, bores into the juicy pith 
of the Cabbage Palm, and there the larvae are reared. Tire 
notable thing about, this, is that no. sooner is, a. Cabbage Palm 
cut down, than the beetle discovers it and lays it® eggs: there. 
In the course of a fortnight the: grubs: are full grown, and in 
turn are hunted, after by the human inhabitants, of the place, 
who fry and roast them on a skewer. This recalls, the cater¬ 
pillar known as the Coissos of the Romans, and also the fact 
that the. natives of Queensland hunt, about for grubs and roast 
them in similar fashion'. No, doubt most Europeans would 
look upon such food a.s this, with disgust, but evidently it, is 
merely European, prejudice ‘acquired during* youth. 
Another important fact, which Mr. Andre observed wa® that 
a certain large beei had a, faculty of discovering* the where¬ 
about® of Catasetum trident,atuni whenever there happened 
to be a bloom open. This bee wais, described by Darwin asi 
Eugloissa, and is very rarely seen,, except when the Catasetum 
1 is in bloom. As if by magic, a, Varying number, from five to 
ten, are, round the newly-expanded flower at ontee, and jostle 
one another to get, at the viscid liquid excreted by the flower. 
In another direction he came upon Cattleya superha again and 
Epidendrum stamfordianum, a large specimen of which about 
two or three years ago was one of the most notable plants 
exhibited at the Temple Show. These Orchids grow upon 
trees and rocks. The Cattleya prefer® trees, but the Epiden- 
drum seems to prefer rocks, for it grows in thousands all over 
the rocks in certain, part®, and a large collection could be 
made in, one day. Other Epidendrum® are also found here, 
together with Catasetum® and Oncidiums. 
As far as we have observed, there is very little danger from 
wild animals 1 , but nevertheless there are dangers of other 
kinds, especially in the navigation of the rivers, as happened 
to the great naturalist Wallace on the Amazons. Travelling 
in the Guiana,s may be described a® full of perilous adventure 
in the tropical forest and along the mighty streams. Mr. 
Andre tTm se ]f actually suffered shipwreck in the Arichi rapids 
of the Caura. River, and only reached one of the little settle¬ 
ments after an arduous journey of twenty-six days, during 
which six out of fourteen, of the party succumbed to the hard¬ 
ships endured. At the end of the book we have a, picture of 
the party who came toi pis rescue. The book .runs, to 310 
pages, including a, good index and many picture® of natural 
scenery and native®. 
Primula Kewensis. 
(See Supplement?) 
Hybrid Primulas between allied species occur in a state of 
nature even in, this country, but under cultivation they are 
comparatively scarce. The many Primulas, even those that 
are highly improved, are either the results of development from 
a single species or they may be of hybrid origin, as in the case 
of the Auricula,, though we doubt if anyone has ever proved 
it. That under notice is one of the: few in a state of cultivation 
that seem to point to an undoubted hybrid origin, although 
accidentally, or at all event® not intentionally, produced. 
The. evidence' that it is of hybrid origin depends upon the 
fact -that Primula, floribunda and P. verticillata,, grown in 
proximity,-gave rise to a form that was intermediate between 
the two. The. flowers are produced in tier above tier in the 
same manner as P. verticillata,, but, the leaves, more, closely re¬ 
semble those of the. other supposed parent. At certain stages 
of their growth they show a slight evidence of the mealiness of 
the leave® of P. verticillata, but to, a much lesser extent. An 
even stronger point than this is: that the plant produces no 
seeds, and would therefore bei classed as a, mule by the older 
writers. 
On© important point about this recent production is that 
the constitution of the plant isi stronger than either of the 
parents, and flowers are much more abundantly produced over 
a longer period of time. From a garden point of view this is 
decidedly important, as the. plant is: of very great decorative 
value, and its long, lasting properties recommend it to the 
attention of those who have to keep their conservatories gay 
during the winter months. 
Well-grown plant® stand 15 in. in height, and the stems 
carry three to six whorls of flowers 1 of a bright yellow. So 
robust is the plant that, when liberally treated some of the 
stronger stems become fasciated, or even forked. The plant 
comes into bloom much earlier than P. verticillata, which is a 
point in its favour. The rootstock or crown branches freely, 
and every crown gives rise to flower stems of greater or less 
vigour in proportion to the size of the leaves. It follows, then, 
that this plant could be grown to great size every year as to 
fill 24-sizei pots, and each individual plant is capable of remain¬ 
ing in good condition for weeks at a, time, a.s the crowns de¬ 
velop flower stems in succession. The individual flowers and 
whorls are, therefore, fairly durable, so that in every way 
the plant is capable of keeping up a display for a, considerable 
period of time. 
As the plant is barren, it is necessary to propagate it by divi¬ 
sion of the rootstock, each crown being removed with a portion 
