THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. 1\" 



ALBION, N. Y.. AUGUST 15, 1898. 



No. 10 



Collecting and Preparing Ferns 

 for the Herbarium. 



The collecting; ot ferns for trans- 

 planting, and the cDllection of fronds 

 for preservation as botanical speci- 

 mens, are to be pursued at very dif- 

 ferent periods of the year. 



To the latter that we are desirous of 

 devoting a few pages. It may be pre- 

 mised that for botanical purposes 

 fronds destitute of fructification are 

 worse than useless unless they belong 

 to species which produce distinct fer- 

 tile and barren fronds, and in which 

 the characters and appearance of these 

 fronds materially differ. In such cases 

 the two kinds of fronds should be col- 

 lected and preserved together. 



The period for collecting ferns for 

 the herbarium is therefore manifestly 

 that when the fructification has nearly 

 attained to maturity, and it is always 

 better to collect them on a dry day 

 than on a very wet one. The collect- 

 or should go out prepared for collect- 

 ing ferns, if he desires that his herbar- 

 ium should present a neat and respect- 

 able appearance when completed. 

 Some recommend a vasculum, some 

 a bag and some a large book under 

 the arm; but commend us to two half- 

 inch deal boards, about 1 1 inches by 

 17, with a strap and buckle for each 

 end, and 20 sheets of bibulous paper, 

 cut to the same size, and placed be- 

 tween them. Having selected a good 

 frond or two for preservation, taking 

 care not to break the stipe or stalk, 

 but to separate it from the rhizome or 

 ryot stock, bend back the stipe just 

 below the lowest leaflets of the frond, 

 breaking the woody portion, but not 

 dividing it from the rest of the frond, 

 and lay it carefully between a sheet of 

 your bibulous paper, and secure it 

 with the spare paper bet.veen your 



boards; then proceed in search of 

 more. Fronds, which with their 

 stalks are not too long for the paper, 

 should be laid in without bending. 



In selecting fronds for preservation, 

 it is not the largest that are required, 

 but is rather advisable to collect such 

 specimens as will lie comfortably be- 

 tween the papers without bending, 

 than to aim at procuring y?//f speci- 

 mens which rnay only prove to be a 

 nuisance. A perfect frond of nine 

 inches in length is better than a folded 

 or otherw'-^ mutilated one of nineteen 

 inches. 1 ^electing fronds the fruit 

 should Hi ; too ripe, or instead of 

 spores you v. only find empty cases 

 not to menti. 1 '^e rusty dust that will 

 continually fil. )^ur papers. It is bet- 

 ter that the spores should be scarcely 

 matured. Then again it should be 

 noticed whether the frond is eaten by 

 insects, broken, or in ony other way 

 imperfect. Such specimens are to be 

 avoided if others can be obtained. 

 Finally, the specimen selected should 

 be well grown, and not distorted, un- 

 symmetrical, or e-xhibit a tendency to 

 sporing or departure from the general 

 tyye of the neighboring fronds. 



Having collected what specimens 

 are required and conveyed them home, 

 the next process consists of drying 

 them for the herbarium. This is ac- 

 complished by removing them from 

 the papers in which they have been 

 collected, and transferring them to 

 fresh paper. Some persons are con- 

 tent with a stout unsized paper, such 

 as employed by grocers for wrapping 

 sugar, others will proceed to blotting 

 paper, whilst the majority will admit 

 that Bentail's botanical paper is decid- 

 edly the best. The ferns should be 

 transferred to a sheet of drying paper 

 two or three thicknesses, or even four 



