s is a monstrous digression.
Does it not seem to follow that man should rise to his highest level
there? The aborigines are savages mostly and ever have been; no people of
whom we have record has become civilised unless by an impulse from
without, and none could reach the bulk of these. But India shows that the
brain, as the form, of man may develop to perfection under the hottest
sky. Therefore, to end this brief excursus, I conclude that as the
tropical weed Laelia purpurata is more majestic and more beautiful than
our weeds, so will tropic man some day rise to a height of majesty
unattainable in our zone.

But the reader has had enough of it--and so have I; for to crowd a volume
of facts and arguments into a paragraph is irritating labour. Let us get
back to business. Here are some of our finest varieties of L. purpurata.

_Marginata._--White of sepal and petal. It takes its name from the white
margin surrounding the crimson purple lip. Very striking also is a large
white triangle upon the disc, charmingly netted over with crimson.

_Archduchess_ is faintly rosy. The lobes, closely folded, are deepest
purple-crimson, over an orange throat. On either side the dark central
line of the labellum is a pale blur.

_Macfarlanei._--Sepals and petals very narrow, of a clear rose tint, with
darker lines. A patch almost white in the front of the dark crimson lip.

_Lowiana._--Petals rose, sepals paler. The tube is not large, but it, and
also the labellum, could not be darker if still to be classed as crimson.
Even the yellow of the throat is obscured, but there is a lighter blotch
at the tip.

_Tenebrosa._--The name is due apparently to branching lines of deep maroon
which intersect the crimson lip. Petals and sepals are white, and there is
a white patch on the labellum.

THE DENDROBIUM HOUSE

is the last in this series, where we see the usual varieties in
perfection; there are pseudo-bulbs of Wardianum more than 4 feet long. At
the present day, however, orchidists will not look at 'usual varieties' of
Dendrobium with patience--nobile, cupreum, fimbriatum, thyrsiflorum, etc.
etc. etc. They are exquisitely lovely, of course. Examine them as often as
you will, new marvels of beauty appear. The fact is that most experts
never do examine these common things; they look about for varieties. Such
blase souls can be accommodated, if needful. Here are specimens of _nobile
album_, all white save the deep crimson blotch and a fa