I 



MR. Harrison's botanical press. 237 



by a Mr. Whateley a furgeon, but his contrivance, though 

 certainly better adapted to preferve the parts of fructification 

 and the fliape of the ftem entire than the two former, I found 

 would take up much more time than a country furgeon can 

 well fpare ; therefore this led me to make what I thought an 

 improvement on Mr. Whateley's plan, and the experienced 

 botanift is left to judge of my fuccefs from the following de- 

 fcription ; this I can fay for it, that it anfwers completely (of 

 courfe) to my own wi(h ; but further, that Mr. John Gough, 

 of Middlefliaw, who has the beft colle6lion of plants in this 

 county, regrets that he had not the fame contrivance, and 

 has urged me much to fend you the following defer iption of 

 my prefs. 



This inftrument confifts of 17 oblong boxes, each, except- The aothor's 

 ing the uppermoft and lowermoft, is made of four fides ^^ {cr]htiy it^con- 

 weli-feafoned oak wood, two inches deep and one-fourth of fifts of a feries of 

 an inch thick, dove-tailed together; the two end-pieces of f '^^^.^ "'^x ?,^f ^* 



' ^ . . having (ail but 



which have two notches each in the middle wherein to place the loweft) can- 



the fingers in lifting it; and the bottom confifts of canvas ^^J ^^"°'^': 



^ . '^ ' . . They contain 



glued and nailed to the wooden frame : in each corner is fixed fand, and the 



a fmall triangular piece of wood reaching half an inch from P'^nts are laid 

 II i,^ r , r . 1 ,.!» between box and 



the bottom upwards (tor a purpole hereatter to be explamed). box. 



Thefe boxes are made fo as to be placed one within another 

 fucceffively upwards, the lowefl (I am fpeaking only of the 

 15 with canvas bottoms) meafures 20 inches by J 6 on the 

 outfide, and the highefl 12 inches by 8. The bottomed, or ^ 

 carriage on which all the others are fupported, is much 

 ilronger, the fides of it being two inches deep and three quar- ' 

 ters of an inch thick : its bottom is of wood of the fame 

 thicknefs, all over perforated with holes one-third of an inch 

 in diameter, and refts on four iron caftors, one at each cor- 

 ner, to render the whole more eafily moveable ; at each end 

 of it there is an iron handle: This box is 20 inches by IQ 

 within, and will therefore barely receive the largefl of the 

 boxes with canvas bottoms. The uppermoft, or 17th box, is 

 of the fame conftru6tion as the canvas boxes, excepting that 

 its bottom is of wood of the fame thicknefs as its fides, with a 

 number of holes pierced through of the fame magnitude as 

 thofe in the carriage, and canvas glued to the under fide of if. 

 To complete this prefs, two folds of blotting-paper are to be 



placed 



