218 ON PRESERVING PLANTS. 



coming shrivelled by evaporation. If gathered in wet weather, they 

 must be laid out for some time on a table or elsewhere to undergo a 

 partial drying. When roots have been taken up along with the 

 stems, they ought to be first washed, and then exposed for some time 

 to the air. 



Let us now suppose that a dozen specimens are procured. Over 

 one of the boards lay two or three sheets of the paper, on the upper- 

 most of which spread out the plant to be dried, unfolding its various 

 parts, not however, so as to inj lire its natural appearance. A few of 

 the flowers and leaves ought to be laid out with particular care. Over 

 this specimen lay half a dozen sheets of paper, on the uppermost of 

 which lay another plant as before, and so on successively, until the 

 whole are disposed of. A few sheets are then laid upon the last, and 

 a board placed over all. 



Plants, viewed with reference to drying, may be divided into two 

 classes, the one comprehending those which being thin, soft, and 

 flexible, require little pressure to reduce them to a level, the other 

 including such as being stiff and thick require much pressure. Sup- 

 posing the above plants to have been of the first class, we lay upon 

 the upper board one of the smaller weights. A series of more stub- 

 born specimens being, in like manner, placed between other two 

 boards, we lay one of the larger weights upon them. 



Should more specimens be collected next day, they are disposed 

 of in the same manner ; and thus successively. At the end of three 

 days generally, the plants first laid in are to be taken out, together 

 with the paper about them. They are to be laid in fresh paper, three 

 or four sheets being placed between every two plants, aud the whole 

 put between two boards, with a weight over them. The second series 

 is similarly treated next day, and so on. The paper from which the 

 plants have been removed is to be dried for future use. 



There will thus be four sets of plants : two in the first stage of 

 drying, and two in the second stage. The plants of the second stage 

 sets should be taken out about three days after they have been de- 

 posited, and after dry paper has been put about them, returned to 

 their places. The paper may thus be shifted until the plants be per- 

 fectly dry, when thev are finally removed. Each plant is then placed 

 in a sheet of dry paper, and along with it is deposited a slip of paper, 

 on which are written the name of the plant, the place in which it 

 was fathered, the time of gathering, the soil, and such other circum- 

 stances as may tend to elucidate the history of the species. Thus 

 prepared, the plants are packed up in bundles, which gradually en- 

 large their dimensions, or increase in number till the end of the 

 season. 





