COLOR OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS. 41 
be of interest to the Lovers of Flowers, I insert the follow- 
ing extracts : 
“The curious and striking varieties of color in flowers, 
their metamorphoses, the delicate pencilling of the veins in 
®nany, and the beautiful hues of striped petals, which have 
from time immemorial attracted the attention even of the 
listless observer of nature, have of course not been left un- 
examined by the philosopher of every age; and although 
there is sufficient reason to believe that the usual methods 
of rigorous examination into cause and effect have been 
applied with all the ingenuity that a love of nature, or an 
ambition of distinction could suggest, these labors have 
not yet led to any very satisfactory theory on the subject 
of the cause of color, and its variation of flowers.” 
“Those who are not conversant with raising varieties of 
Tulips from seed should be informed that what is techni- 
cally called breaking of a seeding tulip, is the sudden 
change which takes place one year in the color of the 
flower ; for instance, from a dull purple it will change to a 
fine clear white with brilliant red stripes, or from another 
dull color to a bright yellow with dark stripes, and this 
bulb, with its progeny of bulbs, if properly managed, will 
always remain of the same colors. This process often 
takes six or twelve years, and cannot apparently be fore- 
seen or accelerated, some never break or change at all. 
The person who raised or broke the famous tulip Poly- 
phemus, told the writer that it was nine years before this 
effect: was produced.” 
“There are also many other curious proceedings of na- 
ture on this subject, which must have been generally re- 
marked; the flower of Cobwa scandens is-.green the first 
day and violet the next—the Hibiscus mutabilis is white 
in the morning, pink at noon, and red at night.” 
“MM. DeCandolle, whose opinion on all subjects relating 
to the laws of vegetable structure is entitled to the great- 
