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elusion as to the benefit to be derived from the use of hot water in the 

 preparation of botanical specimens, it would be well to know what 

 kind of water we are making use of; for if Mr. Evans or Mr. Sidebo- 

 tham were to try the experiment with water highly charged with iron, 

 and again, with the same kind of plants, make use of water which 

 is highly charged with lime, perhaps they would not see the same ef- 

 fect produced. Mr. Evans tells us that plants, after being immersed 

 in boiling water, will dry in nearly one half the time required to dry 

 them in the usual way. It is not stated if the specimens were sub- 

 jected to the same kind of treatment after their immersion in boiling 

 water, as when they are dried in the usual way. I have tried this 

 experiment, that is, I have gathered specimens at the same time, and 

 at the same place, and put part of them in boiling water for a few se- 

 conds, and then placed them in paper to dry. I then placed some in 

 the same state in which I gathered them in the same kind of paper, 

 and changed them at the same time, and in short gave them the same 

 kind of treatment throughout. The result of this experiment was, 

 that the plants which had been immersed in the boiling water, took 

 three times the length of time to dry that those required which had 

 not been in the boiling water. The plant which I tried the experi- 

 ment on was Galeobdolon luteum. I now enclose three specimens of 

 Asperula odorata : the one marked No. 1, I dried in the usual way — 

 you will observe it is of a very dark colour : No. 2, I immersed in boil- 

 ing water, and then dried it — that you will observe is much paler in 

 colour than the plant is in a living state. No. 3, I put in a sheet of 

 paper in the state in which I gathered it, and then placed it on the top 

 of a steam-engine boiler. I let it remain there fifteen minutes, with- 

 out changing the paper ; in this short time I found it to be quite dry : 

 this, you will observe, has by far the best colour of the three. I also 

 enclose two specimens of Galeobdolon luteum : the one marked A, I 

 immersed in boiling m ater for four seconds, and then dried it in the 

 usual way ; the other, marked B, I dried as the Asperula No. 3, only 

 it took more time — thirty instead of fifteen minutes : the colour of 

 both is very well preserved, but you will see that the one marked B 

 is much the better of the two. A few days ago Dr. Harvey sent me 

 a few specimens of Pinguicula grandiflora in a living state ; and as I had 

 not seen good specimens of that plant, I resolved to try what 1 could 

 do in drying them. The first thing I did was to remove as much of 

 the moisture as possible from the leaves. I then took one of the spe- 

 cimens, and placed it on a sheet of soft paper ; then I carefully spread 

 each flower, putting on them a piece of common blotting paper. I 



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