Monsieur Thiery, in his Voyage à Guaxaca informs us that in Mexico he found whole forests of the Cactus composed of 8 or 10 different species, from 40 to 50 feet high, and some of them 5 or 6 feet in circumference. Woe to the unfortunate traveller who is under them in a storm, when their thorny tops are dashed to the ground! his destruction is inevitable. In Mexico and Campeachy, not only the fruits but the young shoots of most of the species of Cacti are eaten: ragouts are also made of the buds and unopened flowers: even their seeds are made into bread, and that of the smaller sorts (as C. mammillaris) into tarts; of which Monsieur Thiery says he had tasted, and they were excellent. With the fruit of C. Pitahiaha and that of C. Tuna he supported himself when almost famished in traversing the sandy deserts. Professor Jacquin also informs us, that the fruits of all the species he found in America were eaten by the natives. The arts are likewise much indebted to the genus Cactus, as the cochineal insect (so essential in the formation of our fine lake and carmine colours) can only be bred upon the coccinilifer and some other species of Cacti. Our figure represents a plant that flowered in the hot-house of Major Leathes at bury St. Edmunds. The living specimen, accompanied with an accurate miniature representation of the plant, was obligingly communicated by the Rev. G. R. Leathes, who informs me that it was 17 feet high; that the bend at the top was owing to a want of room in its ascent, which subverted its otherwise naturally erect posture; that it began to flower in July, expanding about 5 in the afternoon, and was in the greatest perfection at midnight: but as the autumn advanced the flowers opened later and later, till at last in the month of October (by which time at least 30 had been produced) they did not open till 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning. It is increased by the side shoots, whose absence adds vigour to the plant, which is as hardy as any of the species, and may be kept in a green-house, but will not flower without the assistance of the hot-house, and even then is very rarely to be found in bloom. [Illustration] PLATE DXIV. PÆONIA ANOMALA. _Anomalous-leaved Pæony._ CLASS XIII. ORDER V. _POLYANDRIA PENTAGYNIA._ Many Chives. Five Pointals. ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER. CALYX 5-phyllus. Petala 5. Styli 0. Capsulæ polyspermæ. CUP 5-leaved. Petals 5. Pointal none. Capsules many-seeded. SPECIFIC CHARACTER. PÆONIA foliis biternatis, multipartitis: foliolis lanceolatis, undulatis, glabris: corollis læte purpureis, depressis: capsulis glabris. Habitat in totâ Sibiria. PÆONY with biternate leaves, many-parted. Leaflets lance-shaped, waved, and smooth. Blossom of a bright purple, depressed. Capsules smooth. Native throughout Siberia. REFERENCE TO THE PLATE. 1. The empalement shown from the outer side. 2. Seed-buds, chives, and pointals.