210 



EECEEATIYE SCIENCE. 



cross-bars one incli wide, tlie centre half an 

 inch. Two light straps to pass over the cross- 

 bars, to fasten them, will keep the whole toge- 

 ther compactly when filled with specimens in 

 process of drying (Fig. 3). 



nnnninnni 



keep the specimens clean and in good order, 

 and, when the day's collecting is completed, 

 can be rolled up, and carried home. I can say 

 nothing in praise of vascnlums, as experience 

 has taught me to avoid, when engaged in 



Hoann 



Fig 3— The Press. 



6th. An apron should be provided, made 

 of oil or American cloth, twelve inches wide 

 and twenty inches long, divided into parii- 



FiG. 4. — The Apron. 



tions like a lady's needle-huswife, as repre- 

 sented (Fig. 4). This being water-proof will 



Collecting, whatever is weighty or cumber- 

 some ; and if once the species get mixed, the 

 loose dirt spoils their beauty, and they can 

 never be examined with that comfort, or pre- 

 served with that delicacy and beauty, which 

 are so characteristic of this order. In fact, as a 

 rule, vascnlums are well calculated to damage, 

 not preserve our most delicate plants. 



7th. A pair of surgeon's dissecting forceps 

 (Fig. 5), for examining minute specimens. 



FxG. 5. 



and removing them from foreign objects, or 

 the water in which they are immersed before 

 drying. 



HOW TO COLLECT THEM. 



A final preparation before starting, is to 

 be well protected about the feet and legs, 

 for to get mosses you must not mind an occa- 

 sional plunge into a bog. Choose a damp 

 day, or, better, a clear day soon after a 

 heavy rain, for it must be remembered that 

 in dry weather many mosses, as Poly- 



