ly. The wizard was a respectable
person--attended church, and so forth. The sacristan had talked matters
over with him and neither doubted of success. Kerbach must write a letter
to Don Filipe's wife begging her to intercede. The wizard having charmed
that document before presenting it, she would be compelled to grant its
request. If the planter should still refuse, a curse would be launched
against him. And he could not dare resist that.

The man was so serious, he explained himself in such a matter-of-fact
tone, that Kerbach, laughing, risked two dollars on the chance. With the
letter in his pocket the sacristan departed. Two days later he returned.
Don Filipe was willing to negotiate the lease. Kerbach was so delighted
that he never thought of asking whether the lady's gentle influence or the
terrors of the curse had persuaded him. Thus Odontoglossum Harryanum was
found, to the eternal glory of Roezl.

MASDEVALLIAS

Among Masdevallias we have scarce varieties of Harryana, as _Bull's
Blood_, Mr. Bull's punning name for the darkest of all crimsons, and
_Denisoniana_, which keen eyes distinguish from it by a shade of magenta;
_splendens_, pure magenta; _versicolor_, which has patches of deep crimson
on a magenta ground, and a bright yellow 'eye'; _Armeniaca_, large,
apricot in colour, also with a yellow 'eye'; _Sander's Scarlet_, which
speaks for itself.

_Bonplandii._--Greenish yellow, with a few purple marks. Tails short and
stiff.

_Caudata._--Upper sepal light yellow dotted with red; lower purplish rose,
marbled with white. A dwarf species, but the yellow tails are two to three
inches long.

_Abbreviata._--Small, white speckled with purple.

_Ignea splendens._--Much larger than the normal form. Fiery red.

_Amabilis._--Small, carmine, conspicuous by reason of its 'tail,' an inch
and a half long.

_Chelsoni._--A hybrid of the last-named with Veitchii, orange-yellow, with
mauve spots and two 'tails.'

_Veitchii grandiflora_, a variety even larger than the common type, seven
inches across sometimes; orange-red, suffused with purple.

_Polysticta._--One of the lovely little 'curiosities' which abound in
this genus--palest lilac freckled with purple, and tailed.

_Coccinea._--Rosy pink above, glowing scarlet below.

_Macrura._--One of the few Masdevallias which do not please my eye, but
very rare. Immense, as much as twelve inches long, counting the yellow
tails, rough of surface, vaguely brown in