LITERARY NOTICE. 
157 
on the outside, and have a broader lip, whose middle lobe is not rich violet, 
but yellow, with a white or purple border. It flowered in the collection of 
Robert Hanbury, Esq., in May, 1844. — Bot. Reg. 34-45. 
Lycaste gigantea. Although the colours of this species are not gay, yet 
its large size, and the great height to which its flower-stem rises (full two 
feet) are remarkable features. Mr. Hartweg found it in Guayaquil 
flowering in the month of August, at a place called the Quebrada de las 
Juntas. The flowers are larger than those of L. viacrophylla, the sepals and 
petals of a dull brownish-green, with a spreading chocolate-coloured label- 
lum. — Bot. Reg. 34-45. 
Eria Dillwynii. A new species, with tall oblong pseudo-bulbs, producing 
a raceme six to eight inches long, of cream-coloured flowers, not remarkable 
for beauty. It is from the Phillipine Islands, whence it was received by 
Dillwyn Llewelyn, Esq., of Penleegar, through Mr. Cuming, in whose col¬ 
lection it blossomed freely in March, 1843. It is valuable from the great 
facility with which it submits to cultivation, and the profusion with which 
it bears its flowers. — Bot. Mag. 4163. 
Masdevallia fenestrata. This is one of the very curious' productions of 
nature, of which there are such frequent instances in the Orchideous plants. 
The plant is not only singular in colour, the flowers being externally of a 
deep blackish blood-colour, but still more singular in form, with the sepals 
united below and at the apex, leaving a small space much below the apex, 
which is open and window-like ; the whole representing the head of a bird, 
with a perforation where the eyes should be. It was sent from Jamaica by 
Mr. Purdie, and flowered at Kew in October, 1844. — Bot. Mag. 4164. 
LITERARY NOTICE. 
The Cultivation of Orchidaceous Plants, by J. Hen- 
shall. (SecondNotice.) Last month we promised to give a 
specimen of this work, and we are now more than ever dis¬ 
posed to do so, because since our notice it has been made the 
subject of some most severe, illiberal, and unjust remarks in 
the “ Gardener’s Chronicle.” The writer of the review in 
question commences in his usual style with a most insulting 
reflection on gardeners generally, as though he was inde¬ 
pendent of their influence or exertions, and proceeds with an 
attempt to throw ridicule on the work, by picking out a line 
here and there — a sentence from the middle of a page, with¬ 
out the connecting link of the observation to which it refers, 
leaving the context, and indeed the whole body of the book, 
completely unnoticed. However, we intend the author shall 
speak for himself. In the geographical portion of the work, 
we find the following, and beg to inquire of the learned re¬ 
viewer how much “ absurdity ” lie discovers therein. After 
giving a rule for the estimation of the mean temperature in 
all latitudes, Mr. Henshall says, “ Although in the present 
