HERBARIUM. 505 



errors or misconccpUons of* otlicrs. A f^ood 

 practical botanist must be educated among 

 the wild scenes of nature, -while a finished 

 tlieoretical one requires the additional assist- 

 ance of gardens and books, to which nmst 

 be superadded the frequent use of a good 

 herbarium. When plants are well dried, the 

 original forms and positions of even their mi- 

 nutest parts, though not their colours, may 

 at any time be restored by immersion in hot 

 water. By this means the productions of the 

 most distant and various countries, such as 

 no garden could possibly supply, are brought 

 together at once under our eyes, at any sea- 

 son of the year. If these be assisted with 

 drawings and descriptions, nothing less than 

 an actual survey of the whole vegetable world, 

 in a state of nature, could excell such a 

 store of information. 



Some persons recommend the preservation 

 of specimens in weak spirits of wine, and this 

 mode is by far the most eligible for such as 

 lire very juicy. But it totally destroys their 

 colours, and often renders their parts less fit 

 for examination than the above-mentioned 

 mode. It is besides incommodious for fre- 



