ELEMENTARY BOTANY. XXXlll 



ting to any tree, shrub, or herb of which the specimen is only a portion j of the kind 

 of root it has ; of the colour of the flower ; or of any other particulars which the 

 specimen itself cannot supply, or which may be lost in the process of drying. These 

 memoranda, whether taken down in the field, or from the living specimen when 

 brought home, should be written on a label attached to the specimen or preserved 

 with it. 



230. To dry specimens, they are laid flat between several sheets of bibulous paper, 

 and subjected to pressure. The paper is subsequently changed at intervals, until they 

 are dry. 



231. In laying out the specimen, care should be taken to preserved the natural posi- 

 tion of the parts as far as consistent with the laying flat. In general, if the specimen 

 is fresh and not very slender, it may be simply laid on the lower sheet, holding it by 

 the stalk and drawing it slightly downwards ; then, as the upper sheet is laid over, if 

 it be slightly drawn downwards as it is pressed down, it will be found, after a few 

 trials, that the specimen will have retained a natural form with very little trouble. If 

 the specimen has been gathered long enough to have become flaccid, it will require 

 more care in laying the leaves flat and giving the parts their proper direction. Speci- 

 mens kept in tin boxes, will also often have taken unnatural bends which will require 

 to be corrected. 



232. If the specimen is very bushy, some branches must be thinned out, but always 

 so as to show where they have been. If any part, such as the head of a thistle, the 

 stem of an Orobanche, or the bulb of a Lily, be very thick, a portion of what is to be 

 the under side of the specimen may be sliced off. Some thick specimens may be split 

 from top to bottom before drying. 



233. If the specimen be succulent or tenacious of life, such as a Sedum or an 

 Urchis, it may be dipped in boiling water all but the flowers. This will kill the plant 

 at once, and enable it to be dried rapidly, losing less of its colour or foliage than 

 would otherwise be the case. Dipping in boiling water is also useful in the case 

 °t Heaths and other plants which are apt to shed their leaves during the process of 



., , 234 - Plants with very delicate corollas may be placed between single leaves of very 

 . in un glazed tissue-paper. In shifting these plants into dry paper the tissue-paper 

 U "°|: tc L be removed, but lifted with its contents on to the dry paper. 



*■». The number of sheets of paper to be placed between each specimen or sheet of 

 specimens, will depend, on the one hand, on the thickness and humidity of the speci- 

 mens ; on the other hand, on the quantity and quality of the paper one has at com- 

 and. The more and the better the paper, the less frequently will it be necessary to 

 and 18 " at ' and the 80oner the plants will dry. The paper ought to be coarse, stout, 

 "g" 118 ^^- Common blotting-paper is much too tender. 



ft t e ™ U8t be taken that the P a P er used is wel1 dried ' If il be uk ewisehot, a11 



. better; but it must then be very dry ; and wet plants put into hot paper will re- 

 j»iire changing very soon, to prevent their turning black, for hot damp without ven- 

 ' 2^ n £ roc * uces fermentation, and spoils the specimens. 



ni A at P 1 ^ 88 ' 11 ^ plants, various more or less complicated and costly presses are 

 a <»e. None is better than a pair of boards the size of the paper, and a stone or other 

 t * TV ^eight upon them if at home, or a pair of strong leather straps round them if 

 boari £' Eacn of these Doards should be double, that is, made of two layers of thin 

 roii A «k °PP osite wav °f the grain, and joined together by a row of clenched brads 

 thicW edge ' witnout gl» e - Such boards, in deal, rather less than half an inch 



238 u 1 - layer about 2 * lines ) wiU be found lj S ht and dnrable - 

 separat u* U8eful a l so to have extra boards or pasteboards the size of the paper, to 

 wood V Plants from thin ones, wet ones from those nearly dry, etc. Open 

 'nan b" j me8 witn cross-bars, or frames of strong wire-work lattice, are still better 



239°TK S f ° F tnis P ur P ose » as accelerating the drying by promoting ventilation. 

 ing *' ' ne m °re frequently the plants are shifted into dry paper the better. Except- 

 ing if T6ry Stiff or wo °dy plants, the first pressure should be light, and the first shift- 

 will ha P ° 8 i 8lble ' aft * r a few hours - Then ' or at the 8econd shifting, when the specimens 

 Te ,ost their elasticity, will be the time for putting right any part of a specimen 



