DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING PLANTS. 87 
eye to close, look upon another part of the paper, where a circle or 
spectrum of another colour will be distinctly seen; and this will be 
found the true contrasting colour. Without attending to these rules 
the beautiful variety among our bedding out plants is almost useless ; 
but with care every shade of colour will be made to add to the beauty 
of the whole. 
DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING PLANTS. 
BY A LADY. 
Ir is unnecessary to enumerate all the advantages resulting from the 
possession of a collection of preserved plants, as they can be fully 
appreciated only by a person who has made considerable progress in 
the study of Botany. But the beginner requires to be informed that 
nothing can more materially aid him in his endeavours to become 
familiar with the objects which vegetation presents to his view, than 
such a collection, to which he can at all times refer, either for refresh- 
ing his memory or for instituting a more minute examination than he 
had previously made. Plants are generally preserved by drying, and 
a collection of this kind is called a Hortus siccus or Herbarium. 
Various methods are in use for drying plants, but the following being 
among the most simple and efficacious, and attended with little diffi- 
culty, is here preferred. 
The articles necessary for the accomplishment of the object in view 
are, a quantity of smooth soft paper, of large size (sixteen quires 
perhaps); eight boards of the same size, about an inch thick, of hard 
wood; four iron weights, or pieces of lead, two of them about forty 
pounds weight, the others half that number. Or in place of these 
weight a number of clean bricks may be used, or in short any heavy 
bodies of convenient form, Along with these articles a botanical box 
is necessary. This box is made of tin, and varies in size from nine 
inches to two feet in length, according to the taste and avidity of the 
collector. 
In gathering plants for this purpose, such as are smaller than the 
size of the paper are to be taken up roots andall. In many cases 
portions only of plants can be preserved, on account of their size, and 
then the most essential parts are to be selected, including always the 
flowers. Plants to be preserved are to be gathered in dry weather, 
and immediately deposited in the tin box, which prevents their becoming 
shrivelled by evaporation. If gathered in wet weather, they must be 
laid out for some time ona 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 uppermost of 
which spread out the plant to be dried, unfolding its various parts, not 
however so as to injure 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 
Jay another plant as before, and so on successively, until the whole are 
