181 BOTANICAL WORK. TSECTION 19. 



Section XIX. BOTANICAL WORK. 



555. Some hints and brief instructions for the collection, examination, 

 and preservation of specimens are added. They are especially intended 

 for the assistance of those who have not the advantage of a teacher. They 

 apply to phanerogamous plants and Ferns only, and to systematic botany. 1 



1. COLLECTION, OR HERBORIZATION. 



556. As much as possible, plants should be examined in the living state, 

 or when freshly gathered. But dried specimens should be prepared for 

 more leisurely examination and for comparison. To the working botanist 

 good dried specimens are indispensable. 



557. Botanical Specimens, to be complete, should have root or root- 

 stock, stem, leaves, flowers, both open and in bud, and fruit. Some- 

 times these may all be obtained at one gathering ; more commonly two or 

 three gatherings at different times are requisite, especially for trees and 

 shrubs. 



558. In Herborizing, a good knife and a narrow and strong trowel are 

 needed ; but a very strong knife will serve instead of a trowel or small pick 

 for digging out bulbs, tubers, and the like. To carry the specimens, either 

 the tin box {vasculuni) or a portfolio, or both are required. The tin box is 

 best for the collection of specimens to be used fresh, as in the class-room ; 

 also for very thick or fleshy plants. The portfolio is indispensable for long 

 expeditions, and is best for specimens which are to be preserved in the 

 herbarium. 



559. The Vasculuni, or Botanical Collecting-box, is made of tin, in shape 

 like a candle-box, only flatter, or the smaller sizes like an English sandwich- 

 case ; the lid opening for nearly the whole length of one side of the box. 

 Any portable tin box of convenient size, and capable of holding specimens 

 a foot or fifteen inches long, will answer the purpose. The box should shut 

 close, so that the specimens may not wilt : then it will keep leafy branches 

 and most flowers perfectly fresh for a day or two, especially if slightly 

 moistened. They should not be wet. 



560. The Portfolio is best made of two pieces of solid binder's-board, 

 covered with enamel cloth, which also forms the back, and fastened by 

 straps and buckles. It may be from a foot to twenty inches long, from 

 nine to eleven or twelve inches wide. It should contain a needful quantity 

 of smooth but strong and pliable paper (thin so-called Manilla paper is 

 best), either fastened at the back as in a book, or loose in folded sheets 

 when not very many specimens are required. As soon as gathered, the 

 specimens should be separately laid between the leaves or in the folded 

 sheets, and kept under moderate pressure in the closed portfolio. 



1 For fuller directions in many particulars, see " Structural Botany," pp. 370- 

 374. 



