368 



General Notices, 



Hence, it appears that white is the most extensively distributed colour, 

 and that, among the coloured flowers, red, yellow, and blue are of more fre- 

 quent occurrence than the three intermediate tints, violet, green, and orange. 

 Of the three principal colours, yellow is the most abundant, but blue the 

 rarest ; while of the three intermediate colours violet is the most frequent. 

 When flowers occur having a green colour, the tint is generally not pure, but 

 is rather a dirty yellowish green ; for, indeed, a pure green in flowers is an 

 extremely rare phenomenon. It is also remarkable, that brown and black, 

 which do not present themselves in the optical spectrum, are rare in flowering 

 plants. 



If we proceed in regard to the relations of smell in plants, in the same 

 manner as in those of colour, there results the following general view, from 

 which it may be remarked, that the few black-flowering species can be brought 

 into the calculation only by deducing the general mean : — 



Green 



153 



12-8 



8-36 I Gen.Mean 420-0 419-3 



9-99 



It is thus evident, that, as the white-flowering species are most numerous, 

 so are they the most generally odoriferous. Among the coloured flowers, the 

 red have the greatest tendency, and the blue the least, to the formation of 

 odoriferous substances. On the average, there is only one odoriferous species 

 in ten. 



If we further separate the species having an agreeable, from those having a 

 disagreeable, smell, we obtain the following results : — 



From this table it is apparent that white-flowering plants are much more 

 frequently agrecabl}' perfumed than coloured-flowering; for in 100 white- 

 flowering plants, there are, on an average, 14-6 having an agreeable smell, and 

 only one having a disagreeable ; whereas in the same number of coloured- 

 flowering plants, there are 6-3 having an agreeable odour, and 1-4 having a 

 disagreeable. 



There are therefore among the white-flowering plants a greater number of 

 species having an agreeable smell than among tiie coloured-flowering, in the 

 proportion of 63-146 ; on the contrary, among the coloured-flowering there 

 are a greater number of plants having a disagreeable smell than among the 

 white-flowering, in the proportion of 10-14. 



