172 ^^ "^"^ COROLLAS or FLOWEKS. 



Moi*t petal. The second or moist petal is so filled with water, that \l 



only excites our astonishment how such a thin gauselikc 

 matter can contain such a quantity of liquor; and yet the 

 flower reposes on the iiand without wj^tiing it. No person 

 can expmine it, and not see that it owes its sparkling ap- 

 pearance to the water it contains ; for when we look at it in 

 the sun, it almost daz2l^s the eyes. When I said that 

 flowers owed the beauty of their tints to the bubbles, 1 did 

 not mean all their cbarnas: there are other arts by which 

 they shine, and well deserve that encomium our blessed 

 I_K>rd bestowed : " not Solomon in all his glory was arrayed 

 like one of these." 



VeWet petal. Thfc velvet petal I was long discovering the formation of. 

 I saw it differed from every other, yet could not understand 

 how, as it was evidently in the upper surface ; for when thi» 

 vras taken off, its pabulum resembled that of the rose : but 

 putting it a little sideways in the solar microscope, I soon 



Its structure. f<>und out the secret. A vessel extremely diminutive is car- 

 ried up and down in a scallop, as at a a, PI. V, fig. 10, and 

 each of the upper points divided. Why this produces such 

 extreme softness, it would be very curious to inquire. The 

 fact however is certain ; it is by this means we make velvet, 

 chenille, &c, ; it is this that causes such extreme softness in 

 feathers in general ; in miniature painting it is this makes a 

 •trokc so much softer than a dot; and is it not the down on 

 the cheek of beauty, which gives so exquisite a softness, 

 that paint must directly destroy ? 1« is that the ray of light, 

 instead of being repelled or absorbed, is reflected down the 

 scallop, and therefore declines by degrees? It is curious 

 that our method of making velvet should be precisely the 

 same by which these flowers are formed, so that the study- 

 ing of nature would have taught us that art. But how 

 many secrets may she not teach, if she was pursued with 

 aridity! To proceed, this scallop is found in every flower, 

 which has this velvetty appearance, though in some it is 

 deeper, in others less deep, and therefore not so soft: still 

 it is always a scallop. 



Tliick petal. The next petal I am to explain is th^ thick. It is com- 

 posed of a thick but double surface skin; the pabulum 

 having fourteen or sixteen layers of extremely diminutive 



round 



