204 
THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
O. vexillarium, bearing six and seven spikes each. One 
fine specimen of 0 . tnaculatum, with fifteen spikes, an 
object of great interest. A fine specimen each of Mas- 
devallia Hayana and superbissima, bearing respec¬ 
tively ten and twelve flowers. There were also many 
fine specimens of Dendrobium thyrsiflorum and 
Dr earn ; several species and varieties of cypripediums, 
oncidiums, asridas, vandas, saccolobiums, &c. In this 
collection was a charming plant of Utricidaria Mon¬ 
tana, bearing twelve graceful spikes of its white and 
yellow flowers. This plant is seldom seen in as 
fine condition as that exhibited by Mr. Robinson, 
whose whole collection entitles him to great credit, not 
only for his care and skill as a grower, but for his 
taste in arrangement, the whole group being one of 
the handsomest that it has ever been our pleasure 
to see. 
E. W. Gilmore was another contributor, from North 
Easton, Mass. His group was much smaller than that 
of the foregoing; but we noticed in it some remarkably 
fine specimens, among which was a superb Cattleya 
Mendelii, with twenty-five flowers, one of the best plants 
we have seen of this comparatively new introduction. A 
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum, with six fine spikes, was an 
object of great interest, as was a plant of D. Bensonii, a 
fine little plant bearing twenty-five flowers. In this 
group was a fine Odontoglossum Alexandra, and a 
charming specimen of O. Roezlii, bearing eight flowers. 
Among the cypripediums were many varieties, several 
of which were remarkably well grown. This group was 
also well arranged, showing much artistic skill in the 
young gardener, whose name was omitted. 
Mr. Payson, of Watertown, Mass., exhibited a fine 
specimen of Cypripedium Dominianum, four feet in 
diameter, with fifteen spikes of flowers. This is a gar¬ 
den hybrid and a plant of great beauty and interest. In 
fine order was a plant of Epidendrum vitellinum majus, 
with six spikes of flowers. This group also contained 
choice specimens of Cattleya Mossice, C. superba, Epi¬ 
dendrum nemorale majus and rErides odoratum majus. 
The whole being nicely furnished around the edges of 
the table with cut-flowers of orchids, anthuriums, 
stephanotis and miscellaneous hot-house flowers. 
David Allen, gardener to Mr. Pratt, of Watertown, 
Mass., made an exhibit worthy of special mention. A 
specimen of Epidendrum vitellinum, with twelve long 
and well-furnished spikes, was especially fine, as was also 
a plant of Dendrobium suavissimum, with five gracefully- 
drooping spikes of rich yellow flowers, with a bold crim¬ 
son blotch in the centre of the lip, which is deeply fringed. 
The flowers are two or more inches in diameter, and 
have a rich wax-like appearance. There were also notice¬ 
able in this group fine specimens of cattleyas in variety, 
odontoglossums, cypripediums, &c. The spaces between 
the plants on the table were completely filled with choice 
ferns, mostly Adiantum cuneatutn, which gave the whole 
a beautiful effect, not unlike what we might imagine their 
appearance would be in their tropical homes. We must 
not forget to mention the presence in this group of a 
fine Epidendrum nemorale majus, with thirty spikes of 
its charming flowers. In addition to the growing plants 
was a rare collection of cut-flowers of orchids and other 
hot-house plants. , 
The Botanic Garden, at Cambridge, also contributed an 
interesting table of plants, mostly orchids, the chief at¬ 
traction being a Cattleya Mossia, with thirty-five flowers 
in the highest state of perfection. This was certainly a 
well-grown plant, and one of the gems of the exhibition. 
There were in the exhibit good specimens of odontoglos¬ 
sums, cypripediums, phalasnopsis in variety, and a good 
specimen of Thunia Bensonice, a fine and pleasing orchid. 
A novelty in this group was a living specimen of the edel¬ 
weiss, probably the first living plant ever exhibited on 
this continent. 
The lover of rare and beautiful plants would have found 
a wilderness of other rare forms on exhibition, which we 
cannot now describe, and we regret being obliged to limit, 
such as we have noticed to so small a space. 
Wm. Bennett. 
Flatbush, N. Y. 
THE COCA PLANT. 
W E owe many things to Peru, so many, in fact, that 
were it not for them it is an interesting question 
to study out what condition our race might occupy at this 
day different from that of the present. The Peruvian 
silver turned a numerous emigration to the shores of this 
continent, while the Peruvian cinchona kept alive the 
new-comers who might have died of the coast and other 
fatal fevers which met the unacclimated adventurers. 
Peruvian guano has enriched England and France through 
the prosperity of agriculture, and we owe a great debt of 
gratitude for the same gift. And now we have a new 
medicinal agent which promises to become as notable an 
anaesthetic for local application as ether or chloroform 
have been in other ways. This plant has long been 
known from its uses among the Peruvians, who have been 
addicted to it as a pleasing and moderate stimulant and 
intoxicant. The leaves are rolled up with a little lime in 
them and are chewed. The saliva, which is swallowed, 
produces slight intoxication and a strong inclination to 
rest. As the native workmen take their coca four times 
a day the prolonged rests which it encourages are serious 
drawbacks to their industry. As a set-off against this, 
however, it is claimed that the laborers can perform a 
great deal of labor by the help of this stimulant with very 
little food. The same claim, we think, has been made 
for beer and other alcoholic stimulants. 
The new use of coca, however, is of the greatest im¬ 
portance to the human race. By a chemical process, an 
alkaloid, or its active principle, cocaine, has been sepa¬ 
rated from the leaves. This drug has the property of 
producing local insensibility to pain upon any part of the 
body to which it is applied. The cocaine has been chiefly 
