4 Mr. Reinagle on the Beauties ' ' 



as in Fig. G. This addition made a new advance towards 

 beauty. Fig. 9 commenced a more perfect principle of beauty, 

 having an elliptic stem with oval branches rising from it, as in 

 the others. If to this, the principle of gradation had been 

 given, the eye would prefer it ; I mean, by a scale of increase 

 from the top to the bottom of the projecting stems : and if there 

 had been superadded the external contour of a lengthened egg, 

 like the form of a sage leaf, we should, step by step, advance 

 into the region of beautiful character of exterior shape. Fig, 

 10 is a retrograde, showing how uncongenial angular forms are 

 to curved lines, when producing ornament ; at least how little 

 our eye can bear the angular projections from the elliptic or 

 oval turned stem. Fig. 11 was a curve of exactly the same 

 disk, with the same oval stems, to which a small serpentine 



Fisr,9, 



FigAO, 



i^^.ll. 



addition was made, expressing a leaf. Of all the last seven dia- 

 grams, this abounded with the greatest portion of beautiful 

 lines, and is indisputably the most agreeable and beautiful. 

 Combinations are like numericals ; many of these forms, placed 

 together with judgment and discretion, will attract us from the 

 larger proportion of beauty that meets the eye at once, like a 

 head of beautiful hair : one hair, however gracefully bent, can- 

 pot impress us like an entire lock of the hair ; nor will this 



