1881 .] 
ON PERFECTION OF FORM IN THE TULIP. 
110 
fore, we cannot wonder that tlie form of the 
margin should now remain a disputed point. 
In the rules which have been given concerning 
it, we have only another illustration of the errors 
men sometimes commit, when, in order to sup¬ 
port some peculiar notions of their own, they 
would blindly subject the operations of nature 
to laws as crude as their own imaginations, 
and, regardless of the truthful lessons which 
she herself plainly teaches, vainly require the 
production of forms she was never designed to 
create. 
“ In proof of this, we have only to examine 
the structure and economy of a tulip flower 
itself, in reference to the form of its margin. 
In every part of it there is a manifest ten¬ 
dency to the production of graceful curves. 
We see it in the central parts of the fructifica¬ 
tion ; we see it in the general outline of the 
petals; and especially also do we see it 
in the arrangement of the coloured forms 
upon them, all of which, whether feather 
or flame, are found to consist of so many 
coloured lines disposed in curves; which 
bear a proportionate relation to each other, 
and to the form of the flower itself. To render 
this more intelligible, I would recommend a 
few well-dried petals of some of the finest 
varieties, which are perfect in their markings, 
to be carefully examined through a microscope, 
or, in its absence, a good common magnifying 
glass. The appearance presented is extremely 
beautiful, and will amply repay the trouble. 
Beneath an integument, or skin, of peculiar 
transparency, we observe numerous vessels 
proceeding upwards from the heel or point of 
attachment to the stem. In the microscope they 
have, for the most part, a rich silvery or golden- 
coloured appearance, but as viewed through a 
magnifying glass, they are more opaque, and 
much duller and darker in colour. When 
they first enter the petal they are few in num¬ 
ber, but as they advance they divide into 
numerous others, which inosculate freely with 
each other; and at the margin we may 
frequently count a hundred, or a hundred and 
twenty, besides some twenty or more which 
fall to each of the lateral edges. A few of 
those in the centre run a straight course to the 
upper margin, but all the rest gradually diverge 
from the centre in regular curves of variable 
length, according to their distance from it; but 
all bearing the same relation to each other, the 
radius of every curve being the same, w r hen not 
interfered with by frost, or other accidental 
occurrence. We see the necessity for this 
arrangement in the fact that the vessels which 
proceed to that portion of the upper margin 
of the petal which is not overlapped by others, 
almost invariably reach it at right angles; and 
that even those which pass to the sides, although 
they arrive there in a slanting direction, would 
also join at right angles the edge of a circle 
having the same curve as the upper margin of 
the petal, if they were only sufficiently elon¬ 
gated to reach it. Between the vessels are spaces 
containing numberless minute cells, in which is 
deposited the colouring matter forming feather 
and flame ; consequently, the lines it produces 
assume exactly the same form as the vessels 
themselves. In feathered tulips the deposit of 
colour is, or should be, limited to the spaces 
adjoining the margin, though we often find 
streaks lower down in the body of the petal; 
and as the deposit of colour often tapers off 
gradually, and extends farther down some 
spaces than others, the peculiar appearance 
termed pencilling is the result. In flamed 
flowers, apparently in consequence of the greater 
closeness of the vessels in the middle and lower 
parts of the petal, the colouring is more apt to 
show itself there in dense masses ; but as the 
vessels proceed upwards, the spaces gradually 
enlarge, and the lines of colour become more 
broken and interrupted, so as to leave the spaces 
clear, until we arrive near the margin, when we 
have the feathering developed in the manner 
before described. In many instances, some of 
the spaces are filled with colour from one end 
to the other, except that portion at the heel, 
which is usually without; and where this arrange¬ 
ment is only sparingly observed, we have the 
beautiful branching flame which characterises 
some of our choicest tulips. 
“ This peculiar organisation of the petals in¬ 
disputably proves that the laws of nature are 
opposed to the existence of straight or level 
margins in tulips ; for by no arrangement of 
single divergent curves, equal in their radius, 
could the vessels be made to reach the upper 
margin at right angles, and produce also the 
beautiful feathering we generally find on the 
lateral edges, if such were the form of the petals. 
Their vascular economy would have to be 
changed entirely, and with it the general 
appearance of the whole flower. This, to my 
mind, presents an insuperable objection, and 
renders it unnecessary for me to adduce other 
arguments against such an ideal form as a half- 
globular cup, with triangular petals and a level 
margin. 
“ Perhaps, however, I may be allowed to ob¬ 
serve further that, independently of every con¬ 
sideration arising from the peculiar structure 
of the petals, it has long appeared to me an 
easy matter to determine the correct form of 
the margin on another principle. By way of 
illustration, let us take two tulips of the same 
kind ; in one, the coloured delineations are 
similar in every respect, in the other, no two 
petals are alike. If we ask ourselves why the 
first is most admired, the answer is simply this 
—because the eye is more pleased with the 
greater uniformity which exists in its coloured 
forms, and not on account of any peculiarity 
in the colour itself, for that is the same in both. 
