274 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the paper at 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 slow 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 temperature. Take especial care that 

 the temperature is not excessive, and that the sand is 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 require, but a low, con- 

 tinuous heat, and that from beneath, drivinj the moisture to the 

 snrface, where it will evaporate. To ascertain if they are sufficiently 

 dry, hold a piece of clean dry glass over a perforated box at a 

 tolerably high temperature. If moisture is still remaining it will 

 soon be indicated by a foggy appearance on the glass. With respect 

 to flattening, as fungi are generally of a tough, leathery texture, 

 they may be flattened with care in an ordinary press ; and I believe 

 that their form, like that of most cryptogamic plants, may be 

 restored by boiling water. Specimens to be collected for the 

 herbarium should not have the roots cut off". 



FUNGI ON THE STEilS OF TEEES. 



The parasitic and epiphytal fungi demand but few words. They 

 are mostly on leaves of plants, and will simply require to be col- 

 lected between the leaves of a folio book, and pressed by means of a 

 string tightly bound round it. Many on the bark of trees, stems 

 of plants, decayed wood, etc., may simply be shaved off" by a chisel 

 or sharp stiff knife, and dried in a warm room, or in the sun, and 

 pressed if inclined to shrivel. Those found in or on the surface of 

 liquids will require a very different treatment. When first removed 

 from the liquid they must be placed on a pad of blotting-paper, six 

 or eight sheets thick, and laid on a sloping board to drain, and 

 during intervals as much must be absorbed as possible by gently 

 pressing blotting-paper on the surface. No attempt should be made 

 to press them till as much moisture as possible is absorbed by 

 exposure to the air, and take especial care to keep them in a mode- 

 rately cool temperature till the liquid appears absorbed ; they 

 should then, if possible, be placed on the paper intended for mount- 

 ing, and paper and specimens together put between folded sheets of 

 blotting-paper, and pressed very tenderly, and with care not to rub 

 off the bloom. If very delicate, or of an irregular surface, they 

 ought not to be pressed, but dried by the air, and protected on the 

 herbarium paper by a light wooden frame surrounding them. Those 

 that are found on bread, cheese, potatoes, and other decomposing 

 provisions, should be dried by exposure to the air, and mounted for 

 the herbarium in white card-board boxes with glass lids ; many of 

 the extremely delicate must at once be mounted between glass for 

 the microscope, being the only way to preserve them. Many of the 

 agarics and other fungi may have their delicate colours preserved 

 by absorbing any moisture on their surface with a piece of blotting- 

 paper, and varnishing them with a hard transparent varnish imme- 



