VARIETY. 
277 
uniform colour; but, by cultivation, they 
became so doubled and quadrupled in form, 
and so varied in colour, that it now forms 
one of the principal ornaments of our par¬ 
terres from July to November. The Chinese, 
who have favoured us with this plant, make 
admirable use of it in decorating their gar¬ 
dens. To prepare them, they first raise the 
plants in pots ; then, separating the colours, 
they dispose them with such infinite art as 
to produce one splendid and harmonious 
whole. This effect is often increased by 
planting them near the side of a lake. 
The China aster is made the emblem of 
variety; and owes its principal charms to a 
careful culture of the skilful gardener, who 
has surrounded its golden disks with every 
colour of the rainbow. So study produces 
an endless variety in the refinement of the 
human mind. Though majestic and brilli¬ 
ant, the China aster is not the imprudent 
rival of the rose, but succeeds it, and con¬ 
soles us for its absence. j 
