ON THE FORMATION OF AN HERBARIUM. 179 



out and placed in fresh dry sand every two or three days ; or if the 

 boxes can be placed on the side of a stove, where there is a fire, and 

 with the lids off, they may remain for a week or ten days, when the 

 whole of the moisture will have evaporated, and the specimens will 

 be obtained as perfect in form as when gathered from the fields. 



The plants now obtained in a dry state require to be disposed of. 

 They may be either packed away together as they are, or mounted 

 on paper. It is well to put duplicate specimens in a box or drawer, 

 with a label attached to them, indicating the name, class, and order 

 of the plant, and also the place of its growth. Grasses, dried carefully, 

 and tied up in bunches, each species by itself, and accurately labelled, 

 may be kept in this manner very conveniently. So may ferns, heaths, 

 and many other plants of a dry and| firm texture, which are capable 

 of being handled without injury. But to render them objects of art, 

 and to exhibit their botanical character to the greatest advantage, 

 they must be nicely mounted on paper, a task which calls for con- 

 siderable neatness and skUful manipulation. 



The best paper for this purpose is a stout, hard cartridge ; we have 

 always used imperial paper, and have obtained it, of a quality admii*- 

 ably suited to the purpose, of Mr. Bird, of Ave Maria Lane. Of course, 

 a paper of suitable quality may be obtained almost anywhere, but this 

 surpasses almost any we have ever elsewhere seen. If imperial paper 

 is used, it will be best to cut each sheet iuto four, and this size will 

 suit the majority of plants. In the case of some specimens which 

 cannot be mounted on this sized paper, a half sheet may be used, and 

 the paper and plant folded down together in the middle of the sheet 

 in order to render it uniform with the others. Many plants, as for 

 instance, the camomile, flowering rush, and daffodil, are too tall to be 

 mounted on quarter sheets in an upright position, and they may be 

 laid on with the flower upwards, and the stem bent upwards and 

 downwards as many times as necessary, so that the whole plant 

 may be placed upon the paper. The best cement is a solution of 

 gum arabic; common paste, or glue, will answer very well, but, 

 whatever material may be used, it must be exceedingly clean ; and 

 a few drops of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, should be added to it, 

 to pi event the attacks of insects or mould. There are many ways 

 of fixing the specimen to the paper. Some very delicate plants, as 

 minute ferns, and Alpine plants, may be fixed close with the 

 gum, and further secured by a few stitches of thread passed round 



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