Note 201 — LETTERS ON SCIENCE.

In the “Notes on the Turner Gallery at Marlborough House,” 1856 (p. 23), Mr. Ruskin speaks of the “pale ineffable azure” of the gentian. The present letter was written in reply to one signed “Y. L. Y.” in the Athenæum of February 7, 1857, in which this expression was criticised. In a subsequent issue of the same journal (February 21) Mr. Ruskin’s querist denied the ignorance imputed to him, and still questioned the propriety of calling the gentian “pale,” without at the same time distinguishing the two species.