Another feature which is most interesting is the profusion of bamboos, which are found in dense clusters, and also in shady avenues, where the tops are so intertwined that it is impossible for the sun to penetrate through. One begins to appreciate the beauties of the graceful bamboo when seen under such advantageous conditions. Sometimes an avenue is lined for some distance with similar trees, then with others; sometimes with one species on one side of the walk and an entirely different species on the other side; again they are in clumps all alike or all different, an endless variety in grouping. Fine specimens of the rubber trees are to be seen, and one can get a good idea of this tree which yields such a valuable article of commerce to the world of to-day. The clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and other spice-bearing trees, which are many decades old, may be seen, as well as specimens of the tea plant. The “cow tree,” which secretes a fluid that resembles milk, and a tree which, upon being tapped, pours forth a stream of pure, cold water may both be found. It will not be necessary for one to travel up the Amazon to see the vegetation that grows there, for specimens of almost every species may be found here. Monster trees from the Amazon country which overtop even the lofty royal palms, and reach a height of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, grow here luxuriantly. Trees with great buttresses, which look like strained muscles, and others, with gigantic vines clinging to them, which are slowly sapping the life out of the friendly tree, grow here, just as they do in the primeval forests. Parasites of every kind may be seen on the trunks, and in the angles formed by the limbs. Some of the trees are almost covered with these parasitic growths. Orchids, which would be almost priceless in the markets of New York, are found blooming here amidst the wild tangle of vines. Specimens of the gigantic lily, called the Victoria Regis, a native of Brazil, and whose leaves measure from ten to twenty feet in diameter, grow in the waters of this same garden. There are also little glimpses of almost virgin forest, that may be seen in the two thousand acres of this treasure-house of botanical specimens. The many shades of green are varied by the colours of the poincetta and other flowers, and in and through all flit birds of many hues, swift flying humming birds and monstrous butterflies. The researches which have been made by the various learned directors of these botanical gardens have proven of inestimable value to the scientific world.