52 OUTLINE OF STRUCTURAL BOTANY 
hand and mainly by the use of technical names are these resem- 
blances and relations suggested. 
The corollary of this is that in order to enjoy the plants and 
flowers which we meet we should possess a knowledge of botany at 
least to the extent of recognizing common plants by their technical 
names. 
To one who would like to have a knowledge of the plants of his 
or her immediate locality an herbarium is important, not to say 
essential. One cannot always find a growing specimen which has 
already been identified with which to compare a newly found speci- 
men. The exercise which will soonest fix the name, character and 
relations of a plant in mind is the act of preparing it for and 
preserving it in an herbarium. 
An herbarium is a collection of dried plants arranged according 
to a system of classification. 
When the beginner thinks of the great number of plants which 
would constitute a complete herbarium he is in danger of discour- 
agement, but it is to be remembered that no herbarium is complete, 
even the greatest. A collection of the plants of a certain locality, 
a county, a town or even a lesser area is valuable according to its 
completeness for the given region and the amateur who will make 
a thorough collection of the plants growing in his town or even in 
his school district will be a contributor not only to his own enjoy- 
ment and to his own intellectual culture, but to science as well. 
Hence the collection should begin in the best way, and the best 
way is, after all, the easiest way. 
First, the botanist or the amateur plant-lover should be provided 
with a receptacle for the specimens to be taken home from his 
or her excursions. The most convenient receptacle is a tin box 
made for the purpose and sold by dealers and known as a vasculum 
or botanist’s box. In absence of the conventional botanist’s box 
any closed tin box may serve, such, for example, as those in which 
certain biscuits are sold at the grocers. Cardboard boxes are 
scarcely a protection and they absorb the moisture from the plant 
as blotting paper absorbs ink. People who send flowers by mail in 
cardboard boxes usually waste the stamps they use, while the friend 
to whom the flowers are consigned receives a crushed box with 
wilted flowers. A tin box with a fairly close cover will preserve 
plants quite fresh during several days, often more than a week. 
Plants for preservation or for study should be placed at once in 
the closed box in order to preserve their freshness. A few speci- 
mens of a single species are better than many. Small plants 
should be taken with the roots. Larger plants should always show 
characteristic leaves and portions of stem. ‘he beginner should 
