GLENNY ON FORM. 1038 
of the flower within the given ‘circumference. In fact, whatever ex- 
hibits the nearest a circle by reason of widened petals, and little or no 
indentures, pleases the multitude, who may at the same time be igno- 
rant of the reason they are pleased. Again, suppose the one and suffi- 
cient reason for the preference given to the quantity of surface within 
a given circumference did not exist. The eye is never pleased with 
angles, indentures, serrated edges, nor roughness, from the infant to 
the aged lover of flowers, whether acquainted with the properties or 
otherwise. Let a serrated Carnation and a rose-leaved one be placed 
‘side by side, and the rose-edged flower would be selected, because it is 
more pleasing to the unpractised eye. It is true that “ the child will 
stretch forth its little hand for a daisy, but it will drop the daisy for 
the buttercup ;” almost like an infantile choice to decide the lead- 
ing points of form in flowers: roundness, doubleness, smoothness, thick- 
ness—these are qualities which assert their own superiority over deep 
indentations, singleness, roughness, and flimsiness. There are excep- 
tions in regard to doubleness, because it is the nature of some flowers 
to be monstrous when double, and perfect in their singleness. The 
Auricula, Polyanthus, Pansey, and Tulip, derive all their beauty from 
the surface of their petals; their texture and the marking constitute 
their beauty, and everybody can understand the superiority of the cir- 
cular forms over any other; even the Polyanthus, which is by nature 
scollopped and laced, is the better in proportion. to the bluntness of 
the scollops, and the shallowness of their indentations. If we had to 
illustrate the fact that the beauty of a form depends on its approach to 
a complete circle, we should draw a series of circles, and then within 
these circles draw the flower of a Geranium, a Pansey, a Cineraria, a 
Verbena, and any other flowers as they were before the florist took 
them in hand, and make the extreme edge touch the circle.» It 
would be seen that in consequence of the narrow petals which scarcely 
touch each other anywhere, a good portion of the surface within the 
circle would not be covered by the petal, and in proportion, as much 
of the surface was uncovered, the flower would look mean. We would 
then draw others as we can now find them, with their petals, widened, 
and considerably less of the surface vacant, and every one would con- 
fess the superiority ; and we would finish by drawing imaginary flowers 
that entirely filled up the circle. It would be seen that however hopeless 
might be the task of raising such, the perfection of form, if it could be 
produced, would not be disputed. All parties would be agreed upon 
the circle being the true perfection of a flower, and the gracefulness of 
the curve would be recognized as the true form in all other respects. 
A double flower should be circular in ,the rise of the centre. The 
Tulip should be a portion of the hollow globe, on the same principle 
as a double flower should be a portion of the solid one, whether that 
be a half or two-thirds, or any other portion as dependant on the 
flower. Ifa Pink, a Carnation, or a Picottee, in which the petals have 
a distinctive character on the face of them, a half is the proper pro- 
portion, because all the other petals are smaller than the outer ones ; 
but if there be nothing distinctive on the face, two thirds will be better, 
as is the Ranunculus and Dahlia, but spherical the face should be, 
