CHAPTER X 

 Eggs of Insects, etc. 



FOR years we were dependent upon the taste and 

 genius of our Continental neighbours for artistic 

 patterns and devices required in our trades and manu- 

 factures. We are now learning to lean more upon 

 Nature, and to take hints from her inexhaustible 

 displays of beauty and symmetry, and from her 

 arrangements of colour and of light and shade. Con- 

 sequently, as a nation, we are becoming more artistic, 

 and our surroundings show a decided advance beyond 

 anything known two generations back. 



The artistic compositions of the ancient Egyptians, 

 Persians, Hindus, Chinese, Japanese, Greeks, and 

 Romans were all interspersed with animal or plant 

 forms, and although many of their designs were 

 grotesque and conventional, yet they form some of the 

 richest treasures of the British and South Kensington 

 Museums. 



The leaves and flowers of plants, by their gentle 

 undulations, delicate outlines, and graceful curves, are 

 a prolific source of help to scores of artificers in wood, 

 iron, gold, and silver. 



