187S.1 
THE PHILOSOPHY OP FLORISTS’ FLOWERS—VII, 
151 
its principal characteristic, are injured or lost 
without it. The Polyanthus and the party- 
coloured varieties of Cineraria would suffer in 
the same way, but in a less degree. The 
colours of flowers, however, are beautiful by a 
higher than the painter’s rule, and when in 
their utmost regularity disdain the servile 
trammels of man’s imitative art. Themselves 
and their purposes are alike original, and not 
by copy; and display their Maker’s praise as 
much in what, to a superficial observer, would 
appear their imperfections, as in what are 
called their highest perfections. And therefore 
the forms on which their beauties can be in¬ 
scribed with effect are not so limited. 
“ I have before observed that, theoretically, 
a globe would be in itself the most perfect form, 
considered simply as a figure; and the same 
will apply, to a considerable extent, as a surface 
for the reflection of colour. Yet if a globe 
were formed in any other manner than by the 
convex edges of many petals, as in some of the 
Ranunculacese or the Amaranthus, it would not 
answer our ideas of a flowei - , the essence of 
which is expansion or opening-out, which, in¬ 
deed, is the meaning of the word ‘ petal.’ It 
would, therefore, be out of the question for 
single flowers ; and in fact, the casual arching- 
over of its petals into the resemblance of a 
globe, which takes place in some long-cupped 
varieties of the Tulip, is a great dissight. 
“ The section of a globe, as in a well-shaped 
Tulip, offers the next greatest amount of ad¬ 
vantages ; and one of the charms of that mag¬ 
nificent flower is owingto its mathematically per¬ 
fect form. And in the recent [1849] controversy 
about its exact proportions, I have no doubt of 
all eventually agreeing in the opinion of those 
who assert that it ought to be half a globe; 
because if it be less, in the same degree that it 
falls short of a hemisphere does it lose the 
globular, which is its higher character, and 
approach the idea of a plane surface with 
cupped edges—a form actually assumed by 
some Tulips in the middle of a hot day, after 
they have been some time in flower ; and if it 
be greater, in the same degree that it exceeds 
a hemisphere does it fall short of its just ex¬ 
pansion, both in appearance and effect. For 
the half of a hollow globe of the size of a Tulip 
presents a sufficiently level surface for the 
most delicate floral markings to be perceived ; 
and in the case of this flower, wdiich is painted 
on each surface, enables both the inner and the 
outer to be seen at the same time. Hence it 
is the most effective form of any. 
“ Another way in which an adventitious 
magnitude is produced is, when the lines both 
of form and colour are parallel, instead of 
crossing each other, and both run outwards 
(that is, towards infinity) without a stop. This 
is well illustrated in the singular difference of 
effect produced by the three florists’ species of 
Dianthus,—the Carnation, Picoteo, and Pink. 
Whichever may be the favourite, none, I think, 
will deny that all the grandeur belongs to the 
Carnation. The reason of this, though not 
obvious, is quite intelligible, and arises (to 
compare small things with great) from the 
same difference of principle that separates 
Gothic architecture from Classical—the prin¬ 
ciple of perpendicular and of horizontal lines. 
The stripes of the Carnation are disposed 
longitudinally, the same way with the length 
of the petal, and are not terminated by any 
visible end. They run out, as it were, and 
lose themselves in space. The lacing on the 
petal of a Picotee or a Pink is stopped by its 
adjoining one, and it is transverse to the 
length of the petal; it forms a visible termina¬ 
tion both to the flower and to its colours. 
Hence a Pink, often as large as the largest 
Carnation, will necessarily appear small and 
confined in comparison. 
“ The restricting mode of colour, however, has 
its advantages, as well as its disadvantages. 
For the Carnation, from its greater variety, 
both in forms and colours, ought to be the 
prettiest of the three ; in which quality I be¬ 
lieve most of my fair readers would be disposed 
to place it, where I should myself, as the last, 
instead of the first. There is a sort of mas¬ 
culine character imparted to it by its concen¬ 
trated efforts towards magnitude, which impairs 
its delicacy. It is this direction of the lines of 
colour in the Picotee which make what are 
called ‘ bars ’ a disfigurement, a sentence which 
many denounce as capricious and unreasonable, 
not considering that they are transverse to the 
lines of colour, and that lines at right angles 
are necessarily harsh. 
“ The ordinary mode in which the petals of 
a modern Pelargonium are disposed, give an 
instance of another effect imparted to a system 
of colours by the shape of the ground on which 
they are laid. The two larger or upper are 
sometimes called back petals, not because they 
really lie farther back than the three lower 
ones, but because these latter are commonly 
thrown straight forwards, while the others 
have a greater tendency to the other direction 
and to reflex, whereby the face of the flower is 
thrown upwards and forwards, and a character 
of forwardness or boldness imparted to it, the 
same as there is to the human countenance by 
the same position ; and what is called a bold 
flower, is one in which this disposal of the petals 
is more than ordinarily conspicuous. 
“ When colour is only effective in the mass, 
the shape most adapted for shewing it to ad¬ 
vantage will depend partly on the natural form 
of the flower, partly, as before observed, on its 
size, and partly on the brilliance, or otherwise, 
of its hue, or, which comes to the same thing, 
whether colour or shape take the precedence. 
“ In the subordinate parts of a flower, as the 
