293 



r 



gray, unsized paper (to be had in every *Wenda '' in Brazil), 

 which are firmly held together between two pieces of stout paste- 

 board by means of a strap. Then the bundle is set upright into 

 a tin box, and strong sugar cane brandy or common alcohol is 

 poured on the sheets from above, until the paper and the plants 

 are thoroughly moistened and the liquid begins to run off below. 

 The bundle, or bundles, are kept in the tightl}^ covered tui box 

 until a quantity of them has accumulated. Then the straps and 

 boards are removed, the single packages are wrapped up in paper 

 and packed as closely and firmly as possible into a tin box about 

 60 cm. high, which, finally, is tiglitly closed by soldering a flat 

 cover to it. Several such boxes are packed into a wooden case 

 lor shipping. Some small tin boxes ought to be taken along on 

 more extended excursions. 



The preservation of plants after this method requires v^ery 

 httle time (an advantage of the utmost importance for a traveler), 

 lor it is not necessary to arrange the specimens carefully between 

 the sheets. The plants stay in good order, soft, pliable and moist, 

 r years, and may be dried for the herbarium at the collector's 

 convenience, after his return from his travels. They also remain 

 m good condition for anatomical examination, and all kinds of 

 ers, as well as thick-leaved plants — like many species of 

 Orchids, Cactace^e, etc. — will arrive at home in excellent order. 

 -Besides, plants may be collected and placed between the sheets 



fo 



flow 



m rainy weather. 



J 



On two Soecies of Grami 



Sporobolus CONFUSUS (Fourn.). That species of Sporobohis 

 ^^l^ich has been, with us, called .S. ramulostis, very common at 

 the West, is not the species of Kunth, which is described and 

 figured in Humboldt and Bonpland's '* New Genera and Species 

 of Plants," as Vilfa ramulosa. This fact is observed in Four- 

 niers Mexican Gramlneae, page lOi, where he mentions our 

 plant and calls it Vilfa confusa, and, remarks correctly, that it 

 differs from Vilfa raimilosa in its \o\ 

 ^yith an obconic thickening under the flower; not with short, 

 "gid, divaricate, equally thickened pedicels. As the genus Vilfa 

 IS now conjoined with Sporobolus, our species must be called 5. 



