Englishman Frederick William Burbidge (1847-1905) was a legendary and intrepid collector of tropical orchids, traveling in Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Australia, and the Fiji Islands in search of specimens. His experience trying to cultivate these tropical plants in more temperate regions led him to publish "Cool Orchids" in 1874, which focused on successful orchid growing in cooler climates. Burbidge, who worked for Victorian orchid distributor James Veitch and Sons, was named Curator of the Trinity College Botanic Gardens at Dublin, Ireland in 1879. More than 20 black-and-white illustrations accompany the text.