HANDBOOK OF SEA-WEEDS. 27 



to above, and prune it it necessary. Next take a piece of 

 the mounting paper of suitable size, and slip it into the water 

 underneath the plant, keeping hold of it with the thumb of 

 the left hand. Having arranged the plant in a natural manner 

 on the paper, brush it gently with the camel's hair pencil, to 

 remove any dirt or fragments, draw out ' paper and plant gently 

 and carefully in an oblique direction, and set them on end for a 

 short time to drain. Having in this way transferred as many 

 specimens as will cover a sheet of drying paper, lay them upon 

 it neatly side by side, and cover them with a piece of old muslin. 

 Four sheets of drying paper are then to be placed upon this, 

 then another layer of plants and muslin and four more sheets of 

 drying paper, until a heap, it may be six or eight inches thick, 

 is built up. Place this between two flat boards, weighted with 

 stones, bricks, or other weights ; but the pressure should be 

 moderate at first, otherwise the texture of the muslin may be 

 stamped on both paper and plant. The papers must be changed 

 in about three hours' time, and afterwards every twelve hours. 

 In three or four days, according to the state of the weather, the 

 muslin may be removed, the plants again transferred to dry 

 paper, and subjected to rather severe pressure for several 

 days. 



The very gelatinous plants require particular treatment. One 

 way is to put them in drying paper and under a board but to 

 apply no other pressure, change the drying paper at least twice 

 during the first half hour, and after the second change of dryers 

 apply very gentle pressure, increasing it until the specimens 

 are fully dry. A safer and less troublesome way, for the effi- 

 cacy of which we can vouch, is to lay down the plants and dry 

 them without any pressure, afterwards damping the back of the 

 mounting papers and placing them in the drying press. Some 

 Algx will scarcely adhere to paper. These should be pressed 

 until tolerably dry, then be immersed in skim-milk for a quarter 

 of an hour, and pressed and dried as before. A slight applica- 

 tion of isinglass, dissolved in alcohol, to the under side of the 

 specimen is sometimes necessary. Before mounting, or at all 

 events before transference to the herbarium, care should be 

 taken to write in pencil on the back of the paper the name of 

 the plant, if known, the place where gathered, and the date. 

 The coarse olive weeds, such as the bladder-wrack, Halidrys, 

 and the like, may in the case of a short visit to the coast be 

 allowed to dry in an airy place, and taken home in the rough. 

 Before pressing, in any case, they should be steeped in boiling 

 water for about half an hour to extract the salt, then washed in 



