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Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



our daily life, will do much to better and beautify our sur- 

 roundings. It will teach us to avoid the senseless overcrowd- 

 ing of our homes with meaningless objects. Especially in 

 America, the parlors of the wealthy are, as a rule, too much 

 filled with costly but inharmonious forms; they seem con- 

 fused, oppressive ; they are lacking in repose, dignity, refine- 

 ment ; they suggest too much the bric-a-brac shop. This 

 knowledge will prevent our architects from putting miniature 

 towers, in the shape of pepper boxes or pilot houses, on 

 every dwelling house they build. Towers are the appropriate 

 parts of castles, surrounded by extensive grounds, or of large 

 structures or public buildings. Had a little of this knowledge 

 been distributed in this city, it would have prevented giving 

 to the splendid statue of President Garfield, by Charles Nie- 

 haus, an unsightly tombstone for a base. This same knowl- 

 edge will guide women in selecting the right colors and proper 

 shapes for all garments that adorn the body, or the many and 

 often fantastic creations that cover their heads. Dress should 

 be in perfect harmony with the size, shape, age, complexion, 

 temperament, intelligence, and station in life of the wearer. 

 It should mark the difference between mistress and maid, 

 matron and miss, and should alwa}-s very distinctly separate 

 Penelope from Phryne. I trust the time is not far distant 

 when the language of nature will be taught in all our univer- 

 sities, public or private schools, and art academies. I know 

 of no branch of learning that will have so potent an influence 

 for good upon all classes. It teaches the eternal fitness of 

 things. It brings gentleness, good manners, and refinement, 

 while it beautifies and largely enhances the value of all 

 material it shapes or adorns. Jules Claretie tells the story of 

 a farmer and an artist before a small canvas by Rosa Bonheur. 

 The subject, "A Cow." The price asked for the painting, 

 seven thousand dollars. The rustic thought so large a sum 

 for a picture of a single cow was simply preposterous. 

 " Why," said he, " I have bought the finest living cow I ever 

 saw for sixty dollars." "True," replied the artist, "but you 

 forget this great difference ; your animal will soon die and be 

 forgotten ; this cow is immortal." Art, according to Zola, is 

 " nature seen through the medium of a temperament." This 

 is true and easy of demonstration. About the year 1840, five 



