ON PBESEEVIXG PLANTS. 



Br JAMES BRITTEN, F.KS., &c. 



E will assume that 

 our collecting for 

 the year has come 

 to a close : that 

 the long evenings 

 are beginning, and 

 that our dried 

 plants have been 

 brought together 

 from their temporary resting- 

 places to be revised and 

 selected from, so that they 

 may be intercalated in their 

 places in the herbarium, if we 

 already possess one, or, if we 

 are as yet quite novices, that 

 they may form a nucleus 

 around which the whole 

 British flora shall be gathered 

 in due course. Eirst of all, 

 we must make all necessary 

 preparations for — 



Mounting, the first essential to which is paper. 

 Much of the neatness of a herbarium depends upon 

 its uniformity, so that it is desirable to lay down 

 a definite plan at the beginning and to act up to 

 it consistently. Amateurs often spoil specimens 

 which they have collected and preserved with con- 

 siderable care by transferring them from one sheet 

 to another ; from books— but it is only very amateur 

 botanists who keep their plants in this way !— toloose 

 sheets, from small paper to large, and so on ; each 

 change being attended with some slight damage to 

 the specimen so treated. It is, I believe, the com- 

 mon practice on the Continent to keep the speci- 

 mens loose in folded sheets of paper ; but this plan 

 is not followed in England, and, although advan- 

 tageous as permitting the fullest examination of 

 the plant, it is attended with much risk to the speci- 

 mens in the way of breakage ; so that we may con- 

 sider it settled that we are going to fasten our 

 plant down upon a sheet of paper. This must be 

 rather stout, and large enough to admit the full 

 representation of the species. The sheets used at 

 No. 121. 



the Kew Herbarium are 16i in. long by 10^ in. 

 wide ; those employed at the British Museum are 

 17i by Hi in. ; but the former will be found amply 

 sufficient for our purpose. The next consideration 

 is the means by which the specimens are to be 

 secured, which are more various than might at first 

 be supposed. Some persons sew them to the paper ; 

 others place straps over them, which are secured 

 with small pins ; but the choice practically lies 

 between fixing the whole specimen to the paper 

 with gum, paste, or glue, or securing it with straps 

 of gummed paper. The former plan, which is that 

 adopted at our great public herbaria, is certainly 

 better for specimens which are likely to be much 

 consulted; but the latter is in some respects more 

 satisfactory, if somewhat tedious, as it admits the 

 removal of the plant to another sheet if necessary, 

 and delicate portions, such as thin petals or leaves, 

 are not injured as they are when gummed down. At 

 the British Museum and Kew a mixture of gum 

 tragacanth and gum arabic (the former dissolved in 

 the latter) in about equal parts, is used for this pur- 

 pose; but very coriaceous specimens are secured 

 with glue at the last-named establishment, while in 

 the former the stems and ends of branches are 

 usually also secured with straps. When the speci- 

 men is entirely gummed down, it is a good plan to 

 keep a few extra flowers or fruits in a small capsule 

 attached to the sheet : these will be useful if it is 

 required to dissect such portions, and the specimen 

 need not be injured for such purpose. 



Poisoning. — Some persons are in the habit of 

 employing a solution of corrosive sublimate for the 

 purpose of washing over their plants when mounted, 

 and so preventing the development of animal life. 

 The solution in use at the Kew Herbarium is com- 

 posed of one pound of corrosive sublimate, and the 

 same quantity of carbolic acid to four gallons of 

 methylated spirit ; this fulfils the purpose for which 

 it is intended very well, but is somewhat disagree- 

 able to use. At the British Museum it is found 

 that the presence of camphor, frequently renewed in 

 each cabinet, is sufficient to prevent the attacks of 

 insects. It will soon be discovered that some plants.. 



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