ISS FLORA AND THALIA. 



TO MAKE A nORTUS SICCUS, OR 

 HERBARIUM. 



Perhaps it may not be unacceptable to our 

 readers to make a few remarks on the benefit of pro- 

 curing a collection of dried plants : we will therefore 

 quote Sir James Smith's observations on the subject. 



" The advantage of preserving specimens of plants, 

 as far as it can be done, for examination at all times 

 and seasons, is abundantly obvious. Notwithstanding 

 the multitude of books filled with descriptions and 

 figures of plants, and however ample such may be, 

 they can teach no more than their authors observed. 

 But when we have the works of nature before us, we 

 can investigate them for ourselves, pursuing any train 

 of inquiry to its utmost extent, nor are we liable to 

 be misled by the errors or misconceptions of others. 



" A good practical botanist must be educated among 

 the wild scenes of nature, while a finished theoretical 

 one requires the additional assistance of gardens and 

 books, to which must be superadded the frequent 

 use of a good herbarium. When plants are well 

 dried, the original forms and positions of even their 

 minutest 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. 



