Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-11-01

cutting 1seil a simple process
enough, but u "a wrong way Of
spect for stems, but Ut - 90 quite
close to the base thus d A1n8 u - IAN
ornament, except in DAT dab. 10 49, D:
but the flower ITSELF as the bruised oxtrusled.
ssals can not g properly absorb the water that -
sharp knife is better than scissors tor cut
ting; and it is highly desirable to gather flowers
either before the sun has begun to shine upon
them, or after 1t has left them, for II cut with
the sun upon them they wither much sooner.
under the head OF light work by any means, nor
can 1t be done to advantage In q picturesque
dress Stout hoots are indispensable as a pro
lection against the heavy dews and regular
bee costume, which is anything but poetical,
will be found the most serviceable. For, let
poets write OF the early morning as they will, 1t
Is an uncomfortable time for being out-of-doorS.
Nor when the spells are brought in and emp
tied from the basket on large tray, and vases,
Shells and receptacles of various shapes and
sizes stand waiting to receive them, Is the toll
exchanged for unmitigated pleasure. Work
ing with flowers" reads pleasantly; but it Is not
altogether pleasant in practice, II one has too
many to work with, and fifty other things to be
done at the same time. 1t takes time to ar
range them properly, AND hurried massing to-
gether Of all colors and Sizes is never satisfac-
tory: An abundance OF green, and green Of the
right kind, is indispensable to produce natural
and agreeable effects. Delicate and trailing
vines, like the maurandia and smtlax, give
grace W u vase Ut DlSk6G, Dub Ulle sun
ing bouquet of the florist, with its close massing
of naked flowers and preposterous border Of lace
paper, is an outrage on common-sense.
To arrange even small vase of flowers taste
fully requires an artistic sense Of the beautiful
and the hOpelessly. stif look which so many
well-meaning people give them is almost worse
says, s"The common fault of flowers in vases is
that they are punched like green's; too much is
thought of color, and too little of form; too
much Is thought of flowers, and too little of
leaves ~ Flowers closely hacked without the
relief of delicate sprays of leaves and grasses or
ferns, present q harsh outline; but more loosely.
here and there, the outline is rather suggested
than defined, and the effect more like what we
see in nature. Vines should hang over the brim
of the vase and Irvine about its stem; and droop-.
ing flowers like fuchSiaS have a very graceful
appearance when placed near the edge.
The value of common grasses, such as grow
by any country roadside is not half appreciated;
but their delicate plume-like sprays give soft,
cloudy expression to the bouquet or vase that
enhances its beauty tenfold. The commOneSt
ferns, too, are beautiful and some of them make
a delicate fringe Of such vivid green that no
other foliage can compare with them.
Large flowers, as a general thing, are not de-
Sirable for decorative purposes; and yet even
holIy-hocks, under some circumstances, may be
made ornamental. A fiat glass dish, or low
basket, fringed with ferns, and filled with the
double white and red ones, or white and pink,
produces very pretty enect; and when choice
to know how to make the most Of what one has,
The effect even of weeds artisttcally arranged is
far more agreeable than that of rare flowers
huddled together with an utter absence Of taste
DandeltonS, for instance, with their rich golden
hue, are not to be despised in skilful hands, and
field daises and buttercups will often do Won
ders A network Of very light ferns or delicate
their beauty,
A small quantity of cut flowers may be made
the most Of by setting the vase In saucer and
filling that with green leaves, with flower here
and there If they can be spared. A bouquet
lately received consisted solely OF an immense
pink rose, withits two attendant buds and large,
perfectly formed green leaves 1t filled mod
erate-SfZed vase, and also filled the room with
fragrance like that OF the garden damaSk, and
was to look upon, like perfect creation in
wax. There was something almost weird In its
exceeding beauty and sweetness as though it
might have been the embodied essence Of all the
dead-and-gone roses that have per1umed the
centuries.
common fault with vases and other recep-
taces for flowers is their gaudy cOloring, which,
with high-colOred flowers, produces hopeless con-
fusion, and the beauty of both is lost. To quote
an English writer who is declaiming against
gorgeous epergnes: '.If the flowers are good,
they are like diamonds, the setting Is almost
Superf1uous; the simpler the vessel the more
beautiful they look; but silver or plate eper-
gne would be thrown away without carving and
variety OF form. Porcelain, in the same way,
requires color and exquisite painting, other
wise the manufacturers skill and the charm of
the material are useless Take handsome
centre piece OF silver, group Of CupidS beauti-
fully modelled, stag-hunt, or halt in the de-
sert; these may be exquisite things In them
themselves that their modest tenants in the up
per story are quite overlooked. To indulge the
skill of the artist, the Cupids and scrolwork Oc-
cupy the whole OF the grOund-fOOr and the
drawing-rOOmS, while the unfortunate flowers
are forced into the garrets, where they appear
TO the least advantage. | object to see them
perilous height upon the heather mythology.
so also with porcelain, its very beauty inter-
feres with the full eject of the flowers"
These objections would not apply to the SIM
pie and inexpensive epergne for either dinner
table or parlor decoration which can be made by
any tinman OF two round tin pans with sockets,
two inches deep, the lower one might measure
twenty-seven inches round. and the upper one
eighteen; but these dimensions can be made
either smaller or anger. A glass tube connects
the two and forms graceful column on which
totWtne spray of some delicate vine. The
socket Of the upper pan must of course, be
placed on the under side.
sand, either of which is much more manageable
than water, and the latter can scarcely be
moved without spilllng, and this filing is
or sand being made sufficiently moist, is then
covered with moss and next the green border
ing for the edges Is carefully arranged. This
may be of fern, ivy, oak leaves, arbor vitae, ge-
ranium, or rose leaves, or Of any well-defined
foliage in good condition. These leaves should
be placed droopingly, or the effect will not be
SOOu-luelT SIeluS penetrating UnTOuSn UQe moss
well into the sand. Smaller leaves should be
used for the upper than the under part
In the autumn this simple epergne can be
converted into an exquisite decoration with
ferns, bright-hued leaves, delicate spray of
Virginia creeper twinfng around the stem, and
scarlet and orange berrieS-IHarpe,''s B1zGr.
The Scientific Recognition of God.
[SeleCtion from Prof. Tyndall's Recent Articles in
the Fortnightly Review.l
II asked to deduce from the physical 1nterac-
ton OF the rain-moeculeS the least OF the phe-
nomena of sensation or thought, we must &C
knowledge our helpleSsneSS.
The mechanical philosopher, as such, will
never place a state of consciousness and group
OF molecules in the relation of mover and moved.
In passing from the one to the other we meet
blank which the logic OF deduction is unable to
fill.
Physical considerations do not lead to the final
explanation OF all that we feel and know.
We meet q problem which tranScends any con-
ceiyable expansion Of the powers Which we now
possess.
Wemay think over the subject again and again,
but it eludes all intellectual presentation.
Having thus exhausted physics and reached its
very rim mighty mystery still looms beyond us.
We have, in fact, made no step toward its solll-
tiop. Wetry to soar in a vacuum when we en-
deayor to pass by logical deduction from the one
to the other.
Religious feeling is as much a verify as any
Other part OF human consciousness; and against
IL, on It's subjective side, the waves of science
beat in vain.
could see that his (Carlyle's) contention at
nVNIvnN tI.Ht