A SECRET OF THE CHARM OF FLOWERS 143 



altogether more pleasure than their beautiful 

 rivals in our affection. 



The blue flower is associated, consciously or 

 not, with the human blue eye ; and as the floral 

 blue is in aU or nearly all instances pure and 

 beautiful, it is Hke the most beautiful human eye. 

 This association, and not the colour itself, strikes 

 me as the true cause of the superior attraction 

 which the blue flower has for most of us. Apart 

 from association blue is less attractive than red, 

 orange, and yellow, because less luminous ; 

 furthermore green is the least effective back- 

 ground for such a colour as blue in so small an 

 object as a flower ; and, as a fact, we see that at 

 a Uttle distance the blue of the flower is absorbed 

 and disappears in the surrounding green, while 

 reds and yellows keep their splendour. Never- 

 theless the blue has a stronger hold on our 

 affections. As a human colour, blue comes first 

 because it is the colour of the most important 

 feature, and, we may say, of the very soul 

 in man. 



Some purple flowers stand next in our regard 

 on account of their nearness in colour to the 

 pure blue. The wild hyacinth, blue-bottle, violet. 



