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Bin from the point of view of our national progress we are 

 bound to be active workers in this field of science. There is no 

 doubt we do not hold the position we did as chemical manufac- 

 turers, and unless our chemical industries keep pace with 

 chemical discovery fully as well as they do on the Continent, our 

 position must further decline, and moreover, unless we make 

 chemical discoveries ourselves, we must wait until we hear of 

 the discoveries of others, which will mean, in cases where they 

 are susceptible of practical application, that we are placed at a 

 great disadvantage. 



The bearing which the progress of chemistry in this country 

 has upon this the oldest Chemical Society in existence is so 

 obvious that it is superfluous to make any observation on the 

 subject, except to express the hope that it will continue to be 

 active, and found tloing its part for the advancement of our 

 science, and as a consequence be an important factor in the 

 welfare of our country. 



ON THE EVOLUTION OF FORMS OF 

 ORNAMENT' 

 THE statement that modern culture can be understood 

 -*• only through a study of all its stages of develop- 

 ment is equally true of its several branches. 



Let us assume that decorative art is one of these. It 

 contains in itself, like language and writing, elements of 

 ancient and even of prehistoric forms, but it must, like 

 these other expressions of culture, which are for ever 

 undergoing changes, adapt itself to the new demand-; 

 which are made upon it, not excepting the very arbitrary 

 ones of fashion ; and it is owing to this cause that, some- 

 times even in the early stages of its development, little or 

 nothing of its original form is recognisable. 



Investigations the object of which is to clear up this 

 process of development as far as possible are likely to be 

 of some service : a person is more likely to recognise the 

 beauties in the details of ornamental works of art if he 

 has an acquaintance with the leading styles, and the 

 artist who is freed from the bondage of absolute tradition 

 will be put into a better position to discriminate between 

 accidental and arbitrary and organic and legitimate forms, 

 and will thus have his work in the creation of new ones 

 made more easy for him. 



Hence I venture to claim some measure of indulgence 

 in communicating the results of the following somewhat 

 theoretical investigations, as they are not altogether without 

 a practical importance. I must ask the reader to follow 

 me into a modern drawing-room, not into one that will 

 dazzle us with its cold elegance, but into one whose 

 comfort invites us to remain in it. 



The simple stucco ceiling presents a central rosette, 

 which passes over by light conventional floral forms into the 

 general pattern of the ceiling. The frieze also, which i 

 made of the same materia], presents a similar but some- 

 what more compact floral pattern as its chief motive. 

 Neither of these, though they belong to an old and 

 never extinct species, has as yet attained the dignity of a 

 special name. 



The walls are covered with a paper the ornamentation 

 of which is based upon the designs of the splendid textile- 

 fabrics of the Middle Ages, and represents a floral pattern 

 of spirals and climbing plants, and bears evident traces 

 of the influence of Eastern culture. It is called a pome- 

 granate or pine-apple pattern, although in this case neither 

 pomegranates nor pine-apples are recognisable. 



Similarly with respect to the pattern of the coverings 

 of the chairs and sofas and of the stove-tiles ; these, 

 however, show the influence of Eastern culture more 

 distinctly. 



The carpet also, which is not a true Oriental one, fails 

 to rivet the attention, but gives a quiet satisfaction to the 

 eye which, as it were, casually glances over it, by its 

 simple pattern, which is derived from Persian Indian 



' From a paper by Prof. Jacohsthal in the Transactions of the Anh.o 

 I yz\<: il Society of Berlin. 



archetypes (Cashmere pattern, Indian palmettas), and 

 which is ever rhythmically repeating itself (see Fig. i). 



The floral pattern on the dressing-gown of the master 

 of the house, as well as on the light woollen shaw 1 that is 

 thrown round the shoulders of his wife, and even the 

 brightly coloured glass knickknacks on the mantel-piece, 

 manufactured in Silesia after the Indian patterns of the 

 Reuleaux collection, again show the same motive ; in the 

 one case, in the more geometrical linear arrangement, in 

 the other, in the more freely entwined spirals. 



Now you will perhaps permit me to denominate these 

 three groups of patterns that occur in our new home 

 fabrics as modern patterns. Whether we shall in the next 

 season be able, in the widest sense of the word, to call 

 these patterns modern naturally depends on the ruling 

 fashion of the day, which of course cannot be calculated 

 upon (Fig. 2). 



I beg to be allowed to postpone the nearer definition of 

 the forms that occur in the three groups, which, however, 



on a closer examination all present a good deal that they 

 have in common. Taking them in a general way, they 

 all show a leaf-form inclosing an inflorescence in the form 

 of an ear, or thistle ; or at other times a fruit or a fruit- 

 form. In the same way with the stucco ornaments and 

 the wall-paper pattern. 



The Cashmere pattern also essentially consists of a 

 leaf with its apex laterally expanded : it incloses an ear- 

 shaped flower-stem, set with small florets, which in ex- 

 ceptional cases protrude beyond the outline of the leaf; 

 the whole is treated rigorously as an absolute flat orna- 

 ment, and hence its recognition is rendered somewhat 

 more difficult. The blank expansion of the leaf is not 

 quite unrelieved by ornament, but is set off with small 

 points, spots, and blossoms. This will be thought less 

 strange if we reflect on the Eastern representations of 

 animals, in the portrayal of which the flat expanses pro- 

 duced by the muscle-layers are often treated from a purely 

 decorative point of view, which strikes us as an exaggera- 

 tion of convention. 



