ose the
genera themselves are artificial, only links in a grand chain which
Nature has forged slowly, patiently, with many a break and many a
failure, in the course of ages? She would finish her work bit by bit,
and at every stage the new variety may have united with others in
endless succession. Few natural hybrids can be identified among
Cattleyas, for instance. But suppose Cattleyas are all hybrids, the
result of promiscuous intercourse among genera during cycles of
time--suppose, that is, the genus itself sprang from parents widely
diverse, crossing, returning, intercrossing from age to age? It is
admitted that Cypripedium represents a primeval form--perhaps _the_
primeval form--of orchid. Suppose that we behold, in this nineteenth
century, a mere epoch, or stage, in the ceaseless evolution? Only an
irresponsible amateur could dare talk in this way. It would, in truth,
be very futile speculation if experiments already successful did not
offer a chance of proof one day, and others, hourly ripening, did not
summon us to think.

I may cite, with the utmost brevity, two or three facts which--to me
unscientific--appear inexplicable, unless species of orchid were
developed on the spot; or the theory of special local creations be
admitted. _Oncidium cucullatum_ flourishes in certain limited areas of
Peru, of Ecuador, of Colombia, and of Venezuela. It is not found in the
enormous spaces between, nor are any Oncidiums which might be accepted
as its immediate parents. Can we suppose that the winds or the birds
carried it over mountain ranges and broad rivers more than two thousand
miles, in four several directions, to establish it upon a narrow tract?
It is a question of faith; but, for my own part, I could as soon believe
that aesthetic emigrants took it with them. But even winds and birds
could not bear the seed of _Dendrobium heterocarpum_ from Ceylon to
Burmah, and from Burmah to Luzon in the Philippines; at least, I am
utterly unable to credit it. If the plants were identical, or nearly, in
their different habitats, this case would be less significant. But the
_D. heterocarpum_ of Ceylon has a long, thin pseudo-bulb, with bright
yellow flowers; that of Burmah is short and thick, with paler colouring;
that of Luzon is no less than three feet high, exaggerating the stature
of its most distant relative while showing the colour of its nearest;
but all, absolutely, the same botanic plant. I have already mentioned
other cases