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necessary, is sacrificed to the beautiful 

 strangeness of the corolla. 



Now why do the Labiatae, the Personatae 

 and other vegetable orders present these 

 anomalies which completely disarrange the 

 regular structure of the flower? Let us in 

 this connection venture upon an architectural 

 comparison. The first men who ventured to 

 balance heavy hewn stones over empty space, 

 thereby deserving the proud title of pontifex, 

 or bridge-builder, took as the pattern of 

 their fabric the semicircular arch, which rests 

 the thrust of the load on uniform voussoirs. 

 The result is strong and majestic, but also 

 monotonous and lacking in elegance. 



Next came the pointed arch, which op- 

 poses two arcs described from different cen- 

 tres. With the new type, soaring curves, 

 slender ribs and magnificent superstructures 

 are possible. Variety, inexhaustible in its 

 graceful combinations, replaces monotony. 



Well, the regular corolla is, so to speak, 

 the semicircular arch of the flower. Whether 

 campanulate, rotate, urceolate, stellate, or 

 of any other shape, it is always a grouping 

 of similar parts around a circumference. 

 The irregular corolla is the ogive, with its 

 wonderful audacities; it lends to the poetry 

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