AND PRESERVATION 



205 



The specimens which are flat and not likely to be injured 

 by rubbing, may either be pasted directly to herbarium sheets* or 

 preserved in pockets or envelops of which several sorts are to be 

 had of dealers in botanical supplies, or one can easily fold them. 

 The best for most forms of plants are those which fold under at 

 least three quarters of an inch at each end since they securely hold 

 the specimen in place when attached to the herbarium sheet by a 

 drop of glue. Bulky specimens like most agarics,-]- woody and 

 fleshy fungi like Polyporus and Boletus, puff-balls, morels, many 

 forms of Hypoxylon, Xylaria, Thelephoraceae, and the like, can 

 be best preserved in boxes. | 



Myxomycetes and some of the collapsible moulds (Moniliales, 

 etc.) require to be glued direct to the box cover so that they will 

 not be injured by handling. 



Too much care can hardly be given to all these details, for a 



* It is usually better, however, to paste first to a small sheet which may 

 later be attached to the herbarium sheet and thus prevent its wrinkling. 



| Some prefer to press these lightly. This can easily be done in the 

 smaller and thinner species. After they are once fully dry wrap for a tew 

 moments in a moist cloth when they will become pliable. Only a light 

 pressure should be applied. 



f The writer has found convenient a series of multiple sizes of paste- 

 board boxes, and the same forms have been adopted by the New York Bo- 

 tanical Garden. The most useful sizes are as follows : 



LENGTH. WIDTH. DEPTH. 



1 23^ 2 I# 



2 4 2.^ 1% 

 34 2^f 2^ 



4 5/2 4 i 1 / 



5 5/2 4 2^ 



6 8 5 / 2 2 / 2 



By using these multiple sizes a closer packing is possible. The multiples 

 are themselves fractions of a standard herbarium sheet so as to render pos- 

 sible an arrangement in sequence in a herbarium if desired. 



$ For material of this sort the writer uses a special form of box ^ inch 

 deep with cover 4X1^ inches. By gluing the specimen to the cover it 

 cannot become separated from the label which is most conveniently written 

 on the cover itself, and the specimen can be easily examined in situ under 

 a dissecting glass or even under the lower powers of a compound micro, 

 scope. 



