THE BLASCHKA FLOWER MODELS. 667 



to a vase of orchids, apparently freshly cut, but whose freshness 

 proved to be perennial, since they were the work of the elder 

 Blaschka, who had made them for his wife some twenty years 

 before this date! During all these years the flowers had stood 

 uninjured from exposure to the air and dust of the room, though 

 without even the protection of a glass shade. Here was a con- 

 vincing argument in favor of glass models for the Harvard 

 Museum. 



After much consideration on the part of the Blaschkas, they 

 consented to undertake, on their own terms, the preparation of a 

 certain number of models. 



In consenting to this, Leopold Blaschka was strongly influ- 

 enced by his wish to afford his son further opportunities for 

 carrying on his studies in botany, a science to which he had 

 given much attention ; another potent factor in gaining his con- 

 sent being the kindly sentiment he had cherished "for America 

 since his early voyage to that country. 



Feeling that he had accomplished the first and most important 

 step in his mission. Prof. Goodale returned to America, and in the 

 autumn of 1887 the first consignment of flower models reached 

 him shattered to fragments in the New York Custom House, 

 whose inspectors had done their work " not wisely but too well ! " 

 The fragments were, however, sufiicient to show the quality of 

 the models, and to inspire much enthusiasm. 



Among the first to appreciate the excellence of the models, 

 both from an artistic and a scientific point of view, were the two 

 ladies who later became known as the donors of the collection. At 

 first, by their own wish, their names were not connected with the 

 enterprise, which afterward took the form in which the public 

 now recognizes and honors the collection that of a beautiful and 

 lasting memorial to a graduate of Harvard University, the late 

 Dr. Charles Eliot Ware, of the class of 1834. Each successive step 

 toward the accomplishment of this purpose has been attended by 

 the happiest results, and no element has been wanting to give 

 completeness to the collection. 



The second consignment of models arrived, passed safely 

 through the perils of the custom house, and proved satisfactory 

 in every way. 



The undertaking hitherto had been a personal experiment of 

 Dr. Goodale's, and he has had from its very inception the entire 

 charge of it. Under the new conditions new contracts became 

 necessary, the final one of which, executed at the consular of- 

 fice in Dresden in 1890, engaged all the time of the two Blasch- 

 kas, thus securing a fixed number of models to be sent in two 

 consignments each year, until the collection is completed. The 

 time necessary for this completion is at present uncertain, owing 



