PHANTOM FLOWERS. 95 



"When you are sure that your flowers have fully- 

 dried, — a thing a very little practice in touching the 

 box will teach you, — the thing is done. Open the 

 box, and by holding it in a slanting direction, let so 

 much sand run out that you can lift the flower by 

 the stem ; by turning it upside down, shaking it 

 gently, and if necessary, blowing on it, all the sand 

 will be removed, and you have the flower in its 

 most perfect form. A little brittle, to be sure, in 

 such a dry state as this, and therefore requiring 

 careful handling. But a few days' exposure to the 

 atmosphere will have imparted moisture enough to 

 the flower to make it considerably less brittle. 



You now see why we cannot do with the larger 

 grains of sand ; they would press unequally, and spoil 

 the flower, which forever retains all the marks of 

 such pressure ; nor with the dusty particles of the 

 sand, because they, as well as the soluble particles 

 which we have removed by washing, would adhere 

 to the hairy and velvety parts of the flower, would 

 never be got rid of, and would materially impair 

 the original beauty. 



For the same reason, glabrous flowers are not fit 

 " subjects.'' The very newest feature, however. 



