518 
ON THE PROPERTIES OF FLOWERS. 
also told that it was of old in use .among the 
Iomans, who prolmbly brought it in very 
early days direct from Egypt; and Nuraa, who 
lived three hundred years before the time 
of Alexander, is said to have left a number 
of books written on Papyrus. It was cer- 
tainly extensively used in Egypt, and formed a 
considerable article of export in the time of 
Herodotus. " Indeed Papyri of the remote 
Pharaonic periods are still met with ; and since 
the mode of writing on them is shown by the 
sculptures to have been common in times long 
prior to the exode, there is some reason to 
suppose that the use of the Papyrus was known 
even so early as the time of Moses." — (jPict. 
Uiblc.) The manufacture probably originated 
in, and was in a great degree peculiar to, 
Egypt. The parts used were the thin concen- 
tric coats, or pellicles, that surround the trian- 
gular stalk, divided into thin ribbon-like flakes, 
those nearest the centre being the best and 
finest. A layer of these slips being spread 
out lengthwise, and lapped over by a very 
thin border, another layer was placed cross- 
wise, and being pressed whilst moist and dried 
in the sun, the sheet was completed by polish- 
ing the surface with a shell, or some other 
hard and smooth substance. It is said that 
the juice of the plant causes the adhesion of 
the slips. To form large rolls, a number of 
these sheets were glued together, the breadth 
of the rolls being determined by the length of 
the slips taken from the plant. Some of the 
sheets have been known to measure one hun- 
dred feet in length. 
We have already alluded to the construction 
of boats, or floating vessels, from the Papyrus, 
by the Ethiopians, at least as early as the 
eighth century before the Christian era ; and 
in connexion with this, it is interesting to 
remark that in Abyssinia, according to Bruce, 
the practice still exists, Papyrus boats being 
the only kind the Abyssinians employ ! It 
was the upright stem which was used in the 
construction of these vessels ; these were 
interwoven together, and then coated with 
some bituminous matter, as is shown by the 
daubing " with slime [probably the mud of 
the Nile,] and with pitch," in the case of that 
in which the infant Moses was placed. 
Besides these uses, the fibres of the Papyrus 
served for cordage ; they were liberated by 
macerating the stems in water or wet sand ; 
and from these fibres it is stated that sail- 
cloth was occasionally woven. Its chief and 
most important use was, however, in the ma- 
nufacture of a material for writing on ; and 
its common ancient name (Latin, Papyrus) is 
represented in our day by the word paper. 
Biblos again, an ancient name for the stalk of 
i he plant, is preserved to us in the name of 
t ne " Bible." 
ON THE PROPERTIES OF FLOWERS. 
BY G. GLENKY. 
I observe that in many publications there 
are certain writers going into minute details as 
to the properties of flowers, and occasionally, 
one more hardy than the rest ventures to as- 
sert that I have not gone far enough. I beg 
these persons to understand, once for all, that 
I have laid down general principles which 
I know to be sound, and must prevail, and 
have left to more conceited writers the task of 
interfering with people's fancy. He who ven- 
tures to build a house on sound architectural 
principles, according to the order that he se- 
lects, and insists that it is right, must be 
tolerated, because he has founded his building 
and carried it up on acknowledged propor- 
tions, and in proper taste ; but the man who 
insists that the parlour of a house shall be 
blue and silver, and the drawing-room green 
and gold; that this chamber must be yellow, 
and that one red; is a conceited fool, and dic- 
tates upon matters, in which no man will be 
bound to obey. We know that we have 
settled the forms of flowers, so that when per- 
fection is attained, nothing can improve ; that 
no other form can equal ; and as our models 
are imaginary, and may never be perfectly 
equalled, why, those who get nearest will be 
the best ; but we should be stepping out of 
our way to say that this, that, and the other 
detail (upon which, by the way, six people 
would have six different opinions), must be 
this or that, and interfering with people's fan- 
cies and tastes. We may go so far as to say, 
whatever colour a thing is, it must be clear 
and decided, and whenever two colours are 
contrasted, the greater the contrast the better ; 
but after form, the colours, markings, and 
proportions of colour create the varieties in a 
collection : and he who affects to say what 
these shall be, would sadly limit the number 
of our varieties. We will insist that white or 
yellow shall be pure, and that one feature of 
a flower shall not run into confusion with 
another, but it is the height of folly to dictate 
the width of an edging to a picotee, the 
breadth of the feathering in a tulip. The 
grand principle of floriculture, on which all 
forms are founded, is that whatever shape 
would, if attained, look the most perfect, shall 
be the model which must be equalled if we can, 
— the model of perfection. We think that all 
colours should be left untouched as a matter of 
taste which everybody is at liberty to please 
himself upon, except that they shall be pure, 
well contrasted, and dense or decided, and that 
all markings shall be the same; thus we say, the 
eye of a pansy shall not break through to the 
margin, though we neither dictate the size of the 
eye, nor the breadth of the margin. It follows, 
