FLORA AND THALIA. 189 



are brought together at once under our eye, at any 

 season 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 

 excel such a store of information. 



" The greater part of plants dry with facility be- 

 tween the leaves of books, or other paper ; the 

 smoother the better. 



" If there be plenty of paper, they often dry best 

 without shifting ; but if the specimens are crowded 

 they must be taken out frequently, and the paper 

 dried before they are replaced. 



" The great point to be attended to is, that the 

 process should meet with no check. Several vegeta- 

 bles are so tenacious of their vital principle, that they 

 will grow between papers, the consequence of which 

 is a destruction of their proper habit and colour. It 

 is necessary to destroy the life of such, either by 

 immersion in boiling water, or by the application of 

 a hot iron, such as is used for linen, after which they 

 are easily dried. 



"I cannot, however, approve of the practice of 

 applying such an iron, as some persons do with great 

 labour and perseverance, till the plants are quite dry, 

 and all their parts incorporated into a smooth flat 

 mass ; this renders them unfit for subsequent exami- 

 nation, and destroys their natural habit, the most 

 important thing to be preserved. 



