HARDWICKE'S SC lEN CE-GOS SIP. 



97 



COLLECTING AND PEESEEVING. 



No. IV.-FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 

 By James Bbitten, F.L.S. 



/:<^ 



HE kindred sub- 

 jects of the col- 

 lecting of plants 

 and their ar- 

 ement 



rans 



in 



the herbarium 

 have been treat- 

 ed of over and 

 over again, and it might almost 

 seem as tliough nothing further 

 needed to be said upon the 

 matter. But in spite of all that 

 has been written, it cannot be 

 said that anything like uniform 

 excellence has been attained, 

 either in the collecting or drj'- 

 ingof specimens: on the con- 

 trary, much carelessness is still 

 exhibited in both particulars, 

 and the following remarks on 

 the subject may therefore be useful to some, at any 

 rate, among the readers of Science-Gossip. It 

 has been found impossible to treat both points 

 adequately in one paper, so, on the present occa- 

 sion, we shall devote ourselves to collecting, 

 leaving the arrangement and matters connected 

 therewith for another occasion. 



The great aim to be kept in view in collecting 

 is to obtain as perfect and comprehensive a speci- 

 men as possible ; that is, one showing every part 

 of the plant, — root, leaves, flowers, and fruit. It is 

 not always practicable to show all these upon one 

 specimen, and in such cases such a number must 

 be selected as will carry out this plan. The 

 wretched scraps with which some collectors con- 

 tent themselves are not only useless to their owners, 

 but annoyances to every one who has to do with 

 them, or who is requested to pronounce an opinion 

 upon them. Even among the readers of Science- 

 Gossip there are those who do not scruple to send 

 for determination single leaves, or a terminal shoot 

 No. 89. 



of a flowering plant, or a pinnule of a fern without 

 fruit; a proceeding which is unfair to those to 



Fig-. 6-2. Vounp: Plant of I/wii.cpa Qunmocl'it (frciR EecRiicU lU 's 

 " Organographie.' ' 



