PHANTOM FLOWERS. 61 



and tedious ia all its various processes. Our motto 

 in this art must be " Festina lente." 



In concluding our list of these, the most desirable 

 leaves that have so far come under our own observa- 

 tion, we would by no means limit the researches and 

 experiments of other artists. Different localities will 

 unquestionably furnish difPerent specimens, and thus 

 their collections may be greatly enlarged by the adop- 

 tion of new and more beautiful leaves. As a general 

 rule to govern in the selection of appropriate subjects 

 for experiment, let those of strong and woody fibre be 

 chosen, rather than thick, fleshy leaves, whose veins or 

 ribs may be soft and juicy. Avoid, also, those which 

 have veins traversing the leaf in a longitudinal direc- 

 tion, instead of forming a network tissue radiating 

 from the mid-rib to the outer edges of the leaf. The 

 former are known as endogenous, the latter as exoge- 

 nous varieties of leaf structure. As an example of the 

 endogenous, we may cite the leaves of different kinds 

 of Lilies. If put into the macerating vessel, a few 

 days, or a week, will be sufficient to reduce them to 

 a mass of pulp, resembling a bunch of thread or 

 strings, with apparently no connecting framework to 

 hold the fibres together in form. The practised eye 

 can in most cases discover the character of the leaf 

 6 



