Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

THE ROMANCE OF ORCHID-COLLECTING . There is no real justification for surprise at the sometimes fabulous prices paid for orchids . The cost of obtaining them is so great , both in money and in human life , that the wonder really is they are so cheap . And some orchids are chtap . You can stock a greenhouse with specimens of 100 varieties , bought at an average of half-a-croivn apiece . But you can also spend as many guineas as there are days in the year on one ugly little

bulb , which is the sole representative of a new species or variety , or which is a departure from the established type of a known variety , either in colour or in some other detail . These are the orchids which daring men seek in almost unknown regions . The adventures attending the search would fill many books . Generally Germans , but sometimes Frenchmen or Englishmen , the collectors must have the patience of Job , the courage of Nelson ,

the lingual fluency of a courier , and the knowledge of a professor of science , combined with power to endure years of hardship . Some years ago a collector for an English firm was sent to New Guinea to look for a Dendrobium , then very rare . He went to the country , dwelt among the natives for months , faring as they fared , and living under very trying conditions , and he found about 400 of the plants . He loaded a little schooner with them , but

he put into a port in Dutch New Guinea , and the ship was burnt to the water ' s edge . He was ordered to go back for more , and he did . He found a magnificent collection of orchids in a native burying-ground , growing among exposed bones and skulls . After much hesitation the natives allowed him to remove the orchids , some of them still in the skulls , and sent with the consignment a little idol to watch over the spirits of the

departed . Little wonder that these plants sold at prices ranging from five up to 2 S guineas each . The dangers of the collector ' s task are terrible . Eight naturalists , seeking various specimens in Madagascar , once dined together at Tamatve , and in one year after there was but a single survivor . Even this favoured person was terribly affected , for , alter a sojourn in the most malarious swamps , he spent 12 months in hospital ,

and left without hope of restored health . Two collectors seeking a single plant died one after the other of fever . A collector detained at Panama went to look for an orchid he had heard of , and the Indians brought him back from the swamps to die . A man who insulted a Madagascar idol was soaked with paraffin by the priests , and burned to dfath . Mr . Frederick Boyle shows that these dangers must be encountered invariably , if rare or new orchids are to be found , for he speaks of one which " clings to the very

tip of a slender palm in swamps , which the Indians themselves regard with dread , as the chosen home of fevers and mosquitoes . " And the difficulties of the work are as great as its dangers . One collector was known to wade up to his middle in mud for a fortnight , seeking for a specimen of which he had heard ; another lived among Indians for eight months , looking in unlracked forests for a lost variety . To obtain the orchids wh ch grow on trees , the collector must hire a certain area of woodland , with the right to fell the timber . The natives cannot be trusted to climb to the sum-nits and

gather the plants , and the collector cannot spare the time . So the wasteful plan of felling the trees is adopted , natives are employed to do the work , and the collector gathers his specimens from the fallen trunks . This , however , generally takes place far inland ; the plants have then to be brought home . In one case th'yhave to be carried six weeks on men ' s backs , from the mountains to the Essequibo River ; then carrhd six weeks

in canoes , with 20 postages to Georgetown , then to England over the ocean . Mr . Boyle talks of a journey to the Roraisna Mountain as quite easy travelling , yet it involves 32 loadings and unloadings of cargo ; and in another direction " one must go into the bed of a torrent , and on the face of a precipice , alternately , for an uncertain period of time , with a river to cross almost every day . " Moreover , after all this trouble , the specimens

often die on the journey , and the speculator has to risk the loss of ^ 1000 on a single cargo . What wonder that orchids are often dear ? Yet it is not so much the difficulty and danger which make them dear , as rarity or peculiarity . Amongst a lot of the commonest orchids , some years ago , was found a plant similar to the rest in every characteristic , except the colour of its stem , which was green instead of brown . When it flowered , the bloom

should have been green ; but it was golden , and the plint became in consequence practically priceless . It was divided into two parts , and one was sold to Baron Schroeder for 72 guineas ; the other to Mr . Measures for 100 guineas . This latter piece was several times divided , selling for iooguineas each time ; but Baron Schroeder ' s piece was never mutilated , and it is now worth 1000 guineas I It would bring that sum , say the authorities , in

the public sale room . 1 he good fortune of orchid buyers is sometimes remarkable . Bulbs which have not fljwered and give no sign of peculiarity , are often treasures in disguise . An amateur once gave three francs , on the Continent , for an Odontoglossum ; it proved to be an u lknown variety , and was re sold for a sum exceeding _ £ ion . Another variety , a rarity , bought with a lot , at less than a shilling each , was re-sold for 72 guineas to Sir

Trevor Lawrence , who has one of the finest collections in England . A Catlkya , developing a new and beautiful llowcr , at once advanced in value from a few shilling * to 250 guineas ; it was afterwards sold , in five pieces , for 700 guineas . Simply because its fbwer has proved to be white instead of the normal colour , 28 ) guineas have been given for a Cattleya , and hundreds are available at this present moment , over and over again , for

rare or extraordinary orchids , either in private collections , or in tne market . A plant no bigger than a tulip bulb has been sold for many times its weight in gold , and ' a guinea a leaf" is a common , and often inadequate , estimite of the worth of rarities . Only quite recently , there was something in the nature of a pilgrimage of orchidists , to the hothouses of Messrs . Sander and Co ., of St . Albans , wtiEre a wonderful new orchid was on view . It is

named " Mihioniopsis Bleni Nobilus , " and carried 16 blooms , each nearly five inches in diameter . The colour is a flesh white , t * o ross wings of colour spreading laterally , and in the centre of each blossom is a blotch of cinnamon tint , with radiating lines . Bat it is altogether indescribable in the exquisite beauty of its hues . Nature has rareiy been so lavish as over Lhis gem . It is the newest and probably the most magnificent of all

orchid > . The orchid mania is not diminishing ; 011 the contrary , it is more active now than ever it was . In spite of the constant risk of loss , and the inevitable difficulties and dingers of the enterprise , one nurseryman in this country devot s himself entirely to the orchid trade . He deals in nothing but o-chids , and trusts to the high price which the collectors will pay for a rarity , lo recompense him for the expenses of the collector ' s journey , and the losses which occur in the transfer of the plants , from one continent to

Science, Art, And The Drama.

another . And there must be rarities for many years to come ; because although there are some 2300 varieties of orchids in cultivation , it is , estimated that there are probably 10 , 000 in existence , could they all be found .

State Of Painting Under Edward Vi.

STATE OF PAINTING UNDER EDWARD VI .

( Cotiiinued . J John Bossam , " one for his skill worthy to have been serjeant-painter to any king or emperor , whose works in that kind are comparable with the best whatsoever in cloth and in distemper colours , for black and white , who , being poor , and belike wanting to buy fairer colours , wrought , therefore , for the most part in white and black , and , growing yet poorer by charge of

children , Stc , gave painting clean over ; but , bsing a very fair-conditioned , zealous , and godly person , grew into a love of God ' s Divine service upon the liberty of the Gospel at the coming in of Qieen Elizabeth , and became a reading minister , only unfo-tunate , because ne was English born . " It is pleasant to know by this old MS . of Hilliard his frank , friendly opinion of his brother artist , John Bossam . The Protector of the young English king

was magnificent , and had he lived to complete Somerset House , would probably have called in the assistance of those artists , whose works are the noblest furniture . We have already mentioned his portrait by Holbein . His ambitious duchess , Anne Stanhope , and her son , are preserved in a small piece of oil-colours at Petworth ; but it is not known who the painter was , nor of the portrait of the Protector ' s brother , Admiral Seymour , at

Longleat . A miniature of the same person is in the possession of Mrs . George Grenville . Of the admiral ' s creature , Sir Wm . Sherrington , there are two or three pictures extant ; one among Holbein ' s drawings at Kensington , This man was Master of the Mint , and was convicted by his own confession of great frauds . He put the mint of Bristol into the hands of the admiral ,

who was to take thence £ \ 0 , 000 per month for his rebellious purposes . Yet Sherrington was pardoned and restored . It has never been observed , but we are justified in supposing , that the lightness which is remarked in the coins of Edward VI . was owing to the embezzlements of this person . ( To be continued . )

Lyceum Theatre.

LYCEUM THEATRE .

An absence ol live years brings back the Signora Duse , unchanged either by ellliix of time , or through any alteration of her artistic methods . The acknowledged representative actress of Italy , since Ristori left the scene , still remains in all respects—save keen intelligence—the very opposite of her famous predecessor—a modern realist , as distinguished from the classical idealist , one an exponent of the highest passion of dramatic

poetry , the other of the tender sentiment of its everyday prose . In view , therefore , of Signora Duse ' s exquisite gifts of histrionic expression , and o ( their limitations , it may be questioned whether the selection of " Magda " for her entree was well advised ; for the reason that Sudermann ' s defiant heroine demands for her due portrayal characteristics which , in their resolute sternness are precisely the reverse of those gentler and more

appealing traits distinguishing the actress ' s impersonations , and from which purpose she has never been seen to depart . P ' or instead of being subdued , like Desdemona , " even unto the very quality of her lord , " the Italian actress invariably subdues the character to her own individuality . As a consequence , the Signora is seen to exhibit' the self-same delicate gradations of sensitive domesticity in assu nptions of such diversity as Cleopatra ,

Marguerite Gautier , Magda , and even the lively hostess of the village inn in Goldoni's " La Locandiera . " And it is because the actress ' s engaging personality , as well as her artistic accomplishments , lend themselves so naturally to the embodiment and expression of the spri ghtly Italian innkeeper , that it stands out , in the appreciation of playgoers , as her most illusive impersonation . For want of characteristic assertiveness the Italian Magda lacked the enthralling grip upon the feelings of the audience ,

noted in the French portrayal of Mme . Bernhardt , and the English presentation of Mrs . Patrick Campbell . The result of the self-emancipated daughter ' s visit to her parental home is a mental duel between her father ' s iron will and her own , and she needs must meet force with force , or there is no crash , and the contention fails dramatically . It is this fight of nerve and brain which makes the success of the English actress ' s impersonation , while the want of it , at least , weakens popular interest in the assumption ot the Italian player .

General Notes.

GENERAL NOTES .

Mr . Reynolds , the veteran principal contra bass , has retired from the Covent Garden orchestra , and we are pleased to note that his successor is Mr . Ernest Carrodus , a son of the lite famous violinist . The post has been held by an Englishman for so many years , that it is pleasant to know another is to ( 1 : 1 it again .

There has lately arrived at the Zoological Girdens a specimen of the large lizard known as the Bengal Monitor . Tnis species has only on oie occasion previously been represented in this menagerie , viz ., in ISSJ ,, when a pair was received . Many examples of its relatives , however , ot whi : h there are some 2 S , have been exhibited in the reptile house , and it is seldom that fie Society is without one or two of these remarkable creatures .

In i olour this species is of a brownish olive ab ) ve , marked with numerous black dots and streaks . The under surface is either of a uniform ycllo v or yellowish , dotted with black . The total length to which it attains is atout six feet , of which the tail takes up considerably more than half . Its home is in India , where it is distribute ! in fairly la -ge numbers over the whole of the country , including Ceylon . The habits of the dil'fe . eiit soe : ies of M mitors

vary a great deal . Some of them confine themselves to sandy deserls , others always take up their q larters near water , while others are arbo . 'eaf and spend more of their time in the branches of trees than on the ground . The Bengal Monitor is . a water-loving species , and is an excellent swimmer ; it also is a good climber , and if in branches overhanging rivers or streams , it may frequently be observed leaping from a great height into the water . Small manmals , birds and their egg' .

reptiles and crocodile ' s eggs form its chi f food . Although a rather formidable-looking creature , it is comparatively harmless . When alarmed or irritated it will loudly hiss and raise itself on its front legs to its greait- 'l height , but its attacking powers are small , and the only damage it can inllict is a slight bite or a lash from its long tail . From its prenonitory hiss warning off those who would molest it it may probably obtain its nam :. Ithas been said by many persons to be venomous , but tlr . s is an error . hs ongue is long , and slit for about an inch irom the top .