BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



MAY, 1877. ^b. 7. 



The rsE OF Carbon Bisulphide in the presekvation op^ Plants.— A corres- 

 pondent sends us the followinsr translation of the essential part of M. R. Lcnoruiaud's 

 "Notes on the use of carbon bisulphide for the preservation of Herbaria," extracted from 

 the Bulletin de la Societe Botanique de FranM. — [Ed.] 



"During a visit made me by my friend M. Doyere, he desired to see if I possessed 

 an Arum which he had observed in the vicinity of Algiers without having had time to 

 study it. In running through the fasiculus of my herbarium which contained the fam- 

 ily of Aroides we too often had occasion to notice the ravages that had been made by in- 

 sects principally in the tuberous roots of these plants. The idea immediately came to 

 M. Doyere to rid me of this by means of carbon bisulphide of which he had made use 

 with such wonderful results in the preservation of the cereals. * * * It '^ 

 in the behalf of naturalists who too often notwithstanding the precautions they have 

 taken, are grieved to see their collections deteriorate and go to ruin from the incessant 

 attacks of these inveterate enemies, that I hasten to give it all i)ublicity possible. 



:j- i. I have acted only under his (M. Doyere's) direction and counsel . The 

 apparatus which I use was made from his designs. The quantity of carbon bisulphide, 

 the time necessary for each test were all calculated by him. It is not then astonishing 

 that I have always had the most complete success. ^ ^ I had made a box of 

 white wood 1 meter and 50 centimeters long by 80 centimeters high and 50 centimeters 

 wide, lined entirely inside with thin sheets of zinc well soldered together to prevent as 

 much as possi])le all escape of vapor. The movable lid fitted on the sides of the l)ox, 

 so as to form a i)rojection all around. The interior is divided width-wise into two 

 apartments of which the one intended for the carbon bisulphide is but 1 decimeter 

 broad — the partition is formed of thin wood, andstojis at (5 centimeters from the bottom 

 of the box and rises to within 8 centimeters of the top. The large apartment can hold 

 ten or twelve fasiculi of ni}- herbarium placed in two layers one above the other, the 

 first or lower supported by two fixed bars at 6 centimeters from the bottom, or llie 

 height of the base of the partition. 



"Two other ///oor/^y^t! bars (in (utler to render more easv the placing of fasiculij su])- 

 port the second row of fasiculi, between which and the first there is a free si)ace 

 of 6 centimeters, between this second and the top of the box there is a space of 8 centi- 

 meters. Before placing tlie fasiculi in the box I loosen the cords which fasten them so 

 that the sheets of pajjcr will not rest crowded upon each other and in that way prevent 

 the vapor from easily penetrating between them. The smaller apartment is loosely 

 filled with shavings, I empty upon them one decilitre of carbon bisulphide, immedi- 

 ately replace the cover, with several heavy volumes on top to keep it from moving, and 

 then close the edges by means of putty. Tlie carbon bisuli)hlde vaporizes rapidly. Al- 

 though a high tem])erature greatly increases its energy it is not indispensable for the 

 production of excellent effects as I have convinced myself in the course of my opera- 

 tions. The thermometer has varied between plus lOo and plus 2*^ centigrade, it has even 

 decended to ])lus l'^ and nt^arly to zero and yet the result has never ])een anj'thing Imt 

 satisfactory. When 1 opened \\w box at the end of three days (the time required for 

 the operation) the nauseous odor which immediately escaped from within proved to me 



