302 THE LILIES OF THE FIELDS, ETC. 
harmonize with one another, so as to produce a new regular 
form embracing them both as simply equal halves; this more 
general form is the regular hexagon (six-sided figure), a b, 
a b,a b, in the diagram. The reality of this hexagon is in 
the lilies represented by the six equàl stamens, c. Finally, 
inside of these we have the pistils, three in number, corres- 
ponding in position with the corolla. 
The regular hexagon, or simpler the equilateral triangle, 
thus constitutes the foundation of the beauty of the lilies; 
the form of the petals and the shape of the other parts, as 
well as the colors, are merely accessories, capable of height- 
ening the beauty of the flower, but not necessary to it. 
The six figures of snow-crystals (Fig. 55), selected from 
about two hundred different forms observed: by Mr. Franke, 
Fig. 55. 

in Dresden, Saxony, in 1845-46, and published in the tran 
actions of the society “Isis” of that city, show that a" 
snow-erystal may rightly be termed the *lily of the ge 
The first of the snow-erystals here given is almost pem 
with the hexagon, formed jointly by the calyx and corolla 9 
many a lily of the field, while the second snow-crystal p 
sents the same appearance as the six stamens of the lily- 
Just compare these snow-crystals with the figures of Scilla 
or the general diagram of the lily-flower ! 

