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mighty force in holding the Japanese true to a high standard in matters of taste, by combining "æsthetic eclecticism of the most fastidious nature with the severest canons of simplicity and austerity." The end has been achieved not so much by the elaborate code as through what it stands for; the ceremony being in reality a gathering of connoisseurs to view works of art, each of which to win favor must meet the requirements of the most exacting taste. Out of the æsthetic necessity of making fitting disposition of the flowers introduced into the tea-room, grew the art of Ike-bana, or flower arrangement. This has gradually come to have an elaborate code of its own, and several distinct "schools" have arisen. In a general way it may be said that the art consists in arranging flowers with regard to harmonious composition of line, while keeping in mind certain poetic analogies which must not be violated, and the appearance of vitality and natural growth. Here, again, the principles of composition in painting find their application.

Still another application is found in landscape gardening, which in the hands of the Japanese is also a fine art. This too has its different "schools" and its special code of rules, formulated during the many centuries of development at the hands of successive generations of artists.

Japan is, in truth, a shining example of the essential unity of all the arts, and illustrates admirably the truth of the old saying, Natura artis magister