EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



67 



with stems downwards, resting on strings 

 crossing from side to side, and each, free from 

 its neighbour. Let this cage be suspended 

 in the air if possible, as from a clothes' line, 

 and in a draughty situation, as a passage 

 between two houses ; a cool, shady spot being 

 preferable, as it is the air, and not heat, which 

 we wish to dry them. The surface of the 

 fungi may be also pricked freely with a 

 darning needle. As soon as they commence 

 shrivelling, or show symptoms of drying, 

 remove them from the cage, bend down the 

 stalk in the direction of the pileus, or cap, 

 and gently press them for twelve hours ; re- 

 move them from the press, and again lay 

 them flat in the cage, and expose them to the 

 air till they appear sufficiently dry to bear 

 further pressure. Again remove them, and 

 lay them between flannel three or four times 

 double ; on this put a thin layer of cotton 

 wadding, another layer of flannel, then a 

 fresh layer of fungi, and repeat the layers of 

 flannel and wadding as long as you have spe- 

 cimens. Put them in a box of suitable size, 

 and subject them to pressure by placing a 

 sheet of paper over the whole, and spreading 

 sand lightly over the surface till the whole is 

 covered about an inch and a half deep. Leave 

 them for about two days, then remove them, 

 and press between drying paper, put on per- 

 fectly hot, for twelve hours. 



DRYIKG IN SAND AND LIME. 



There is another process, not generally 

 known, by which they may be preserved 

 either in their natural form or flattened for 

 the herbarium. 



Take the whitest sand, nine pounds, pow- 

 dered lime, one pound. Mix thoroughly and 

 sift through a fine sieve, let the whole be 

 well dried and kept in an earthen vessel 

 closed against the air and damp, ready for 

 use. 



Take tin boxes, of different sizes, perfo- 

 rated freely with holes, large enough to ad- 

 mit a moderate-sized pea, on the top and 



on all sides, from the top to about two 

 inches from the bottom, but no lower. Kext, 

 take some sheets of blotting-paper, drying- 

 paper, or flannel, line the sides of the boxes 

 as low as the holes, but no lower ; put a 

 layer of the mixed sand and lime in the box 

 (not heated), then place your fungi stems 

 upwards, gently shake in the mixture till it 

 reaches the edge of the pileus or gills, but not 

 to cover them; nowtakea few strips carelessly 

 torn from your paper or flannel, sufficiently 

 long to cross the gills of the fungi and touch all 

 sides of your box, like the medullary rays of 

 an exogenous stem. This, by means of capil- 

 lary attraction, will absorb the moisture from 

 the gills of the fungi as well as that taken up 

 by the sand, and convey it to the paper at 



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TIN BOXEa WITH HOLES. 



the sides, where it will evaporate through the 

 holes and escape into the atmosphere; the 

 box should be filled with the mixture to 

 within half an inch of the top, but do not 

 cover the top with paper. When all the 

 boxes are prepared let them be stood in a 

 shzo oven, on the hob of a fireplace, 

 the funnel of a steamer, the boiler of an 

 engine, bath-room, or any situation where 

 there is a regular and not too high a tempera- 

 ture. Take especial care that the tempera- 

 ture is not excessive, and that the sand ia 

 not put in hot. I have little faith in drying 

 by pouring heated sand upon them. It is 

 not a sudden and high temperature we re- 

 quire, but a low continuous heat, and that 

 from beneath, driving the moisture to the 

 surface, where it will evaporate. To ascer- 



