ON PRESERVING SPECIMENS OF PLANTS. 129 



grotesque Cactus flabelliformis? And, although it is against the 

 rules of good gardening to permit the weak-growing plants to suffer 

 for want of artificial support, yet, to obviate, the appearance of stiffness, 

 an artificial style is adopted, and the picturesque is employed to 

 amuse the eye and render nature subservient to art. 



There are many other plants of easy culture, which, like the above, 

 trained, &c, would be continuous ornaments to the parlour, if only 

 tried, and I am confident would amply repay attention. 



ARTICLE V. 



ON PRESERVING SPECIMENS OF PLANTS. 



BY CI.EKICUS. 



Observing, in a recent Number, that information is requested by a 

 correspondent on a successful mode of drying specimens, the following 

 was given me by a friend, which for two years I have adopted with 

 very satisfactory results. " In selecting specimens for drying, care 

 must be taken that they exhibit the usual character of the species ; 

 no imperfect or monstrous shoot should be made use of. If the 

 leaves of different parts of the species vary, as is often the case in 

 herbaceous plants, examples of both should be preserved. The twig 

 should not be more woody than is unavoidable, because of its not 

 lying compactly in the herbarium. If the flower grow from a very 

 large woody part of the trunk, as is often the case, as in some 

 Malpighias, Cynome.tra, &c, then they should be preserved with a 

 piece of the bark only adhering to them. It is also very important 

 that ripe fruit should accompany the specimen. When the fruit is 

 small, or thin, or capable of compression without injury, a second 

 dried specimen may be added to that exhibiting the flowers; but 

 when it is large and woody, it must be preserved separately. Next 

 to a judicious selection of specimens, it is important to dry them in 

 the best manner. For this purpose various methods have been pro- 

 posed : some of the simplest and most practicable may be mentioned. 

 If you are in a country where there is much sun heat, it is an excel- 

 lent plan to place the specimen between the leaves of a sheet of paper, 

 and pour as much dry sand or earth over it as will press every part 

 flat; leave it in the full sunshine, and it will generally dry in a few 

 hours. But in travelling, when conveniences of this kind cannot be 



