64 The Scottish Naturalist. 



with petroleum. Reds and purplish-reds are rendered too purple, 

 but their natural colour is restored by exposing them to the vapour 

 of hydrochloric acid in a wide-mouthed jar or bottle. Orchids 

 and other red flowers may have the colour preserved in some 

 degree by washing them with a mixture of one part of hydrochloric 

 acid in three of spirits of wine; but the colour is apt to be too 

 bright red. 



It is needless to dwell here upon the need of carefully labelling 

 all specimens with the locality and date of collection, with the 

 name or initials of the collector as a guarantee of authenticity. 

 Such additional information as relates to the nature of the habitat, 

 its height above sea-level, the kind of soil, or anything that could 

 bear on the conditions of life of the specimen may also be stated 

 with advantage. It is generally recognised that the herbarium 

 should be attached to sheets of uniform size, sufficiently large to 

 allow of entire characteristic examples of all but the larger plants 

 being attached to them. Of small species several examples may 

 be put on a sheet. The sheets should be protected in covers of 

 strong paper. These may be stored away in a special cabinet, or 

 they may be secured in bundle's between cardboards secured with 

 cloth straps, and may then be arranged in a closed bookcase like 

 so many volumes. It is not at all advisable to commence a per- 

 manent collection in bound volumes, as the need of space and 

 the difficulty of making interpolations will constantly make them- 

 selves more and more felt. 



Those desirous of assistance beyond the limits of this article, 

 will find it in an excellent pamphlet by Mr. Britten, of the British 

 Museum, entitled " The Young Collector's Handbook of Flowering 

 Plants " (published at the exceedingly low price of one penny) ; or 

 in the textbooks of Botany of which several have appeared of late 

 years. The object of the present article is fully gained if it 

 suggests to any who read it ideas that may be of service in render- 

 ing their herbaria more complete and more instructive alike to 

 themselves and to others, and therefore more fit to spread an 

 intelligent appreciation of the aims and uses of Botany among the 

 non-botanical public. 



