ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 29 



and a pocket magnifier, are all the a|)})aratus necessary for field 

 work. A good drying-press is two latticed fratnes 12Jxl8J 

 inches. These can be made ont of a few laths by any one. The 

 best drying paper is the soft felt paper used by builders and for 

 placing under carpets. Common straw wrapping paper will, 

 however, do very well. Pressure may be applied by means of 

 a cord or trunk-strap passed around the package and pulled as 

 tight as a good strong arm can do it — sixty pounds at first, and 

 afterward one hundred pounds, is the proper pressure to apply. 

 The jtackage thus compressed should be hung up in the sunshine 

 and air, or placed near the kitchen stove. The paper must l)e 

 changed every day for the first three days. After that the press 

 may be left alone till the plants are entirely dry, which will take 

 two or three days more. Plants should, when possible, be iden- 

 tified and labelled before putting to press, but labelling may be 

 done afterward. Under the usual routine, the next thing would 

 be to soak the dried specimens in a solution of corrosive subli- 

 mate, re-dry them, and then mount them on heavy white paper 

 by means of gummed slips. But all this work may be well dis- 

 })ensed with. Procure a supply of soft, uucalendared manilla 

 paper in double sheets, size ll|^xl7J inches. Take four parts 

 of white arsenic, five parts of washing soda; boil in thirty-five 

 parts of clear rain-water for fifteen minutes, or until the solids 

 are dissolved. Replace the water eva|)orate(l with water heated 

 to boiling. Into this solution the manilla sheets are to be dipped, 

 holding them by the open edge. It is best to keep two or three 

 inches of the open edge un wetted, so that in turning over the 

 leaves the fingers may not get l)urnt by the poison. The wet 

 sheets are to be spread out in the sunshine to dry. Between the 

 leaves of these poisoned sheets the plants with their labels are to 

 be laid, but not attached. The labels had better be written on 

 pretty thick card-l)oard so that they will not easily "dog's-ear." 

 Arrange the species of each genera al})habetically and enclose 

 the whole in a tliin jrenns cover in the iisual wav. Write on the 

 lower left-hand corner the name and serial number of the genus, 

 and the name of the natural order to which it belongs. Arrange 



