INTRODUCTION TO BOTANY. XXX1 
paper, and the name of the genus and Natural Order to which it belongs 
written on the left-hand corner near the base. 
204. The most convenient size for the sheets of paper is 16 inches long 
by 103 wide. 
205. No more than one species should ever be fastened on one sheet of 
paper; but as many specimens as will conveniently fit may be placed side 
by side. 
7506. The name, place of growth, soil, elevation above the sea, season of 
flowering, colour of the flower, and if a shrub or tree, the height, nature 
of the wood, etc. and any useful information respecting the species, and 
not deducible from the specimen,—should be written on ari attached label 
or on the sheet to which the specimen is fixed. 
207. The sheets of species arranged under their genera and Orders, are 
kept in cabinets made with compartments to suit the size of the paper 
used. 
208. When it is required to examine or dissect flowers or fruits that 
- haye been dried, it is necessary to soften them. If the parts are very 
delicate, this is best done by gradually moistening them in cold water ; 
in most cases steeping them in boiling water or in steam, is usual, and is 
much quicker. Very hard fruits and seeds will require long boiling in 
order to dissect them easily. 
209. For dissecting and examining flowers in the field, a penknife and 
a pocket lens of two or three powers, from half an inch to two inches focus, 
are sufficient. At home it is more convenient to have a mounted lens or 
simple microscope, with a stage holding a glass plate, upon which the 
flowers to be dissected may be laid, and a pair of dissecting-knives, one of 
which should be narrow and pointed, or a fine needle fixed in a handle ; 
the other should have a pointed blade, with a sharp edge, to make clean 
sections across the ovary. A compound microscope is rarely necessary, 
except in cryptogamic botany. For the simple microscope, lenses of 4, 
3, 14 inch focus are sufficient. 
210. Many species vary within limits which it is very difficult to express 
in words. It may also happen that the specimen gathered may present 
some occasional or accidental anomalies peculiar to that single one, or to a 
very few individuals of the species. Hence the difficulty constantly ex- 
perienced by the young student, and not seldom by the more expert 
botanist, of recognizing the various forms of a species by the technical 
characters assigned to it ina Flora. It may be useful, therefore, to point 
out a few of the anomalies likely to be met with, and we may divide them 
into two classes, as follows :— 
1. Aberrations from the ordinary type or appearance of a species, for 
which some general cause may be assigned. 
A bright light and open situation, particularly at considerable ele- 
vations or in high latitudes, without too much wet or drought, 
tends to increase the size and heighten the colour of flowers, in 
proportion to the stature and foliage of the plant. 
Shade, on the contrary, especially if accompanied by richness of soil 
and suflicient moisture, tends to increase the foliage and draw 
up the stem, but to diminish the number, size, and colour of 
the flowers. 
A hot climate and dry situation tend to increase the hairs, prickles, 
and other productions of the epidermis, to shorten and stiffen 
the branches, rendering thorny plants yet more spinous. Mois- 
ture in a rich soil has a contrary effect. 
The neighbourhood of the sea, or a saline soil or atmosphere, im- 
parts a thicker and more succulent consistence to the foliage 
and almost every part of the plant, and appears not un- 
