tS) 
nification, the details of the cells themselves, especially during the 
marvelously delicate changes of nuclear and cell division. The 
endless forms and combinations to be observed in this material 
would be specially appropriate for textile designs. They are so 
unlike anything ever seen by the naked eye or anything geometrical 
that the chances are infinitesimal that they could ever be evolved 
by pure imagination. 
In preparing sections of tissue for botanical study a microtome, 
or precision section cutter, is used. The slices are so thin that 
they are almost transparent and are therefore not easily seen 
without being stained. Different portions of the tissue or cell 
have affinities for stains of different color, three different colors 
being commonly used for one preparation. The result is, there- 
fore, an object which suggests a pattern for color as well as for 
design. 
Again, the surfaces of plant parts are frequently of rare beauty 
when seen under the lower powers of the microscope. The velvety 
petals of flowers, the epidermal growths on leaves and young 
stems, and the cellular details of the epidermis, or skin, of leaves 
may be cited as examples. 
In a preceding article Dr. Merrill has called attention to whole 
organisms of microscopic dimensions, such as the desmids, diatoms, 
and algae and many fungi and their parts, all of great beauty 
and quite unlike the forms and patterns presented by the higher 
plants to the unaided vision. Here, in fact, is a whole new worl 
which artists have hardly begun to explore—a Pandora’s box of 
riches for one seeking something quite novel in design. 
Camera lucida drawings and photomicrographs of such objects 
may be found in the publications in the library of any college or 
botanic garden. But best of all would be to make the acquaintance 
of some laboratory worker who is studying such material or using 
it in class work, and thus to observe it at first hand. 
In the joint exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum and the two 
botanic gardens none of this material is shown since, as stated 
above, such sources of design have rarely, 1f ever, been used by 
artists. The visitor who views this exhibition will, however, carry 
away at least one general impression, and that is of the great extent 
to which design is based upon plant life. And this impression 
