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137 
ON THE COLOURS IMPARTED TO LANDSCAPE 
OBJECTS BY CRYPTOGAMIC VEGETATION. 
BY EDWIN LEES, F.L.S., &o. 
I am almost ashamed, in the presence of gentlemen accustomed to scientific 
study and technical precision that leads on to the attainment of practical know- 
ledge, to read a paper that appeals rather to the uninitiated, and throws no light 
on classification or physiology. But my friend Dr, Bull seemed to think that a 
few remarks of a general character might relieve the effort that is necessary to 
follow scientific deductions and analytical details, and as my object has always 
been to give popular interest to botanical study, perhaps you will allow me to give 
colour to a subject that too often reposes under a neutral tint, or is shadowed by a 
darker hue. 
A subject apparent to the eye may be treated in three ways: either techni- 
cally, as the describers and classifiers of natural objects do in their treatises, 
synopses, or fasciculi, among which you must have seen the arranged specimens in 
the various families of fungi by Mr. Berkeley, and various learned foreign 
collectors, as well as those sent out by Mr. Plowright and Mr. Phillips, and the 
careful descriptions by Mr. Broome, in the annals of Natural History, and the 
fungological arrangement by Dr. Cooke and other authors > or an artistic view may 
be taken, as in the illustrated publications so pleasing to contemplate, with popular 
readable descriptions and anecdotes; or in an economic point of view, the actual 
utility of natural objects may be considered, and their subserviency to the wants 
and appetites of mankind. Here the analysis of the chemist comes in, the 
morphology of plants has to be considered, and the anatomical details and obscure 
modes of reproduction demand the skilful use of the microscope, 
But as mankind in general look to the ordinary value and use of vegetables 
in the way of nourishment that the palate may approve, so while approving any 
new luxury, they treat with contempt organisms, however curious, that can be 
made no edible use of. Thus the ordinary mushroom is esteemed by all classes, 
while all other agarics come under the general odium of frogstools and toadstools, 
Here our sagacious friend Dr. Bull has come to the rescue, and the lover of fungoid 
substances may revel in the savoury aliment that the fields produce for two months 
in the autumnal season. If, as Burke once said, that man is a benefactor to his 
country who makes grass grow where it had never grown before, so a fortiori, he 
who enables things to be eaten that were never eaten before is a still greater 
benefactor—provided the palate and the stomach are agreed to enjoy and digest 
the new viands without fear of consequences, 
But, though the products of the stew-pot and frying-pan may be at times 
acceptable, lovers of Nature will soar above gastronomical ideas, and I am inclined 
to think that the eye should be pleased and instructed on landscape objects, and 
