and intersecting each
other in every direction; and canst thou fancy those wheels arrested in
their motion by some magic power--their rays retained, but their fires
extinguished and their brightness gone? Then mayst thou conceive the
curious beauty of this little herb--a plant so unlike all others that
we would fain believe it the reanimated spirit of a race that flourished
in former ages, with those hideous monsters whose bones alone remain to
tell the history of their existence." It is quite true that in the
cultivated Mamillarias there is nothing unsightly, or rough, or
unfinished. Without foliage, their stems globose, or short cylinders, or
arranged in little cushion-like tufts, and enveloped in silky spines,
like tiny red stars, always looking the same, except when in flower, and
never looking in the least like ordinary plants. Characters such as
these ought to find many admirers. In the Succulent House at Kew, there
is a long shelf upon which a great many plants of this genus may be
seen. But the flowers in some of the species of Mamillaria are quite as
attractive as the stems. Those of M. macromeris are 3 in. long and wide,
their colour a deep rose; M. Scheerii has equally large flowers, and
coloured bright yellow, as also are the flowers of M. pectinata. This
last is remarkable on account of the clock-like regularity with which
its flowers expand. While fresh, they open every day between eleven and
twelve o'clock, and close again about one, however strong the sunlight
shining upon them may be. Some of the kinds (more especially the
small-flowered ones) are often prettily studded over with bright red,
coral-like berries, which are the little fruits, and contain, as a rule,
matured seeds capable of reproducing the parent plant.

The headquarters of the genus Mamillaria is Mexico, and the countries
immediately to the north, a few being scattered over the West Indies,
Bolivia, Brazil, and Chili. Many of them grow on mountains where the
temperature is moderate, but where the sunlight is always intense.
Others are found on limestone or gravelly hills, among short herbage, or
on grassy prairies. A small silvery-spined kind has recently been found
near the snow line in Chili. M. vivipara is quite hardy in New York, as
also are several other kinds, whilst we learn that by planting them out
in summer, and protecting them by means of a frame from heavy rain,
dews, fogs, and sudden changes of weather, a good many species of