320 Transactions. — Botany. 



Many plants may be kept in the vasculum for several days 

 if needed without sustaining injury. During protracted ex- 

 cursions this is occasionally a great convenience, but as a rule 

 specimens should be placed in the drying-press as soon as pos- 

 sible after they are collected. 



Pbepabation and Drying. 



Specimens for drying should be as complete and charac- 

 teristic as the circumstances of the case will allow. In many 

 cases it is desirable to show the root, whether tufted or creep- 

 ing, bulbous, tuberous, &c. Where there is any great differ- 

 ence of form or division between the radical and cauline leaves 

 specimens of each should be preserved. Usually it is de- 

 sirable to have not only the flowers but the fruit ; in some 

 orders the fruits are indispensable, as in the sedges. When 

 the specimens are larger than the herbarium-sheets they may 

 be cut into suitable lengths, or if slender the stem may be 

 partially broken across or simply folded. The stiff and wiry 

 stems of grasses and sedges, &c, may be kept in place by 

 passing the folded portion through a slit in a piece of stiff 

 paper. When the root or stem is thick, or too large to press 

 without inconvenience, it should be split down the middle, or 

 one side should be pared down. All unisexual plants, as 

 Coprosma, Podocarpus, Clematis, &c, should be represented 

 by specimens of the staminate and pistillate flowers, and when- 

 ever possible the fruiting specimens should be taken from the 

 same plant as the female flowers. Fleshy plants, as Mesem- 

 bryanthemwn, should be placed in boiling water for two or 

 three minutes, but should be wiped perfectly dry before being- 

 placed in the press. Bulbs, conns, tubers, &c, maybe advan- 

 tageously treated in the same manner. All specimens should 

 be slightly shorter than the herbarium- sheets. 



The simplest method of drying plants is to place them 

 between sheets of absorbent paper under sufficient pressure to 

 prevent the specimens from shrivelling or becoming brittle. In 

 order to insure the perfect abstraction of moisture the damp 

 papers must be replaced by dry ones at frequent intervals, 

 which, except in the case of grasses and other thin plants 

 containing very little moisture, should never exceed twenty- 

 four hours for the first four days after specimens are placed in 

 the press, and it will be all the better if the first change can be 

 made within twelve hours. It is of the greatest importance 

 that the damp papers should be removed at least daily for 

 the first four or six days, as neglect at this stage cannot be 

 remedied afterwards : neglected specimens, especially of soft 

 plants, become discoloured, and never lose the whole of their 

 moisture, but assume a flaccid condition, which renders them 

 more liable to the attacks of insects and Fungi than specimens 



