THE 
FLORIST'S JOURNAL. 
July 1, 1840. 
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR IN FLOWERS* 
In our Second Number we endeavoured to point out the advan¬ 
tages of so arranging flowers as that, by the contrasts of their 
colours, they shall mutually heighten the beauty of each other, 
and thus render the whole collection more attractive to common 
jbservers and to purchasers. We shall now endeavour briefly to 
explain the principles upon which this arrangement is founded ; 
remarking, by the way, that the utmost skill of the florist in 
obtaining finely coloured flowers loses much of its effect if due 
attention is not paid to the arrangement of the collection. 
In explaining the principle, there are two subjects to be con¬ 
sidered,—the colour which is perceived, and the eye which per¬ 
ceives it; and it is just as necessary that the eye should be in the 
best condition for feeling the beautv of the colour, as that the 
colour should have beauty to be felt. 
Colour, it must be borne in mind, is nothing but light, modified 
by some property of the surface of a substance, of the nature of 
which property we know very little ; for, considered merely as 
substances, there is no substantive red in a red rose any more 
than there is in a white one. When light comes to the eye com¬ 
plete and pure, it is white, and far more intensely white than the 
reflected light which comes from a white substance. In nature 
we never see the full intensity of this light, as it is always weakened, 
and blended with various other tints. Perhaps this is well for us ; 
for, were the sunbeams to reach our eyes perfectly pure, they 
VOL. i. no. hi. h 
