HERAULT DE SECHELLES HERBARIUM. 



699 



Crest. The crest, or cognizance, is placed upon 

 the most eminent parts of the helmet, but yet so as 

 to admit the interposition of the mantle, wreath, &c. 

 Crests were anciently WOTI in the field in order to 

 distinguish the wearers from others by means of their 

 followers, who were in the habit of wearing their 

 leaders' crest. As appendages to the crest are the 

 Wreath, which serves as a support ; it is composed 

 of two colours wreathed or twisted together ; and the 

 Escroll, which was formerly in great estimation as a 

 support to the crest. 



Motto. The motto, word, or saying, consists of the 

 word or phrase which gentlemen carry in a scroll 

 under or above their arms. 



Supporters. Supporters were originally only 

 ancient devices or badges, which by custom came to 

 embellish armorial ensigns. They are called sup- 

 porters because they hold the shield ; and if they be 

 of the figures of angels, or human beings, they are 

 called by the French tenents. 



Cap of Dignity. The Cap of Dignity, otherwise 

 called a Ducal Cap, is a head tire which dukes and 

 commanders were accustomed to wear in token of 

 excellency. This cap must be of a scarlet colour, 

 and turned up with ermine. 



Crowns and Coronets. Crowns are worn only by 

 sovereign princes, in distinction from coronets, which 

 are worn by nobility, and are inferior to the former, 

 both in size and richness. A comparative view of 

 the crown, coronets, &c., worn in England is given 

 in plate 45. 



HERAULT DE SECHELLES, MARIE JEAN, ad- 

 vocate-general in the parliament of Paris, and after the 

 revolution, royal commissary, member of the tribunal 

 of cassation, deputy from the department of Paris to 

 the legislative assembly, and, at length, a member 

 of the national convention, was born at Paris, in 1760. 

 He conducted himself before the revolution as an 

 upright and able magistrate. At the sessions of the 

 legislative assembly, he presented several reports, par- 

 ticularly relative to the responsibility of ministers. In 

 July, 1792, he joined in the declaration that the coun- 

 try was in danger ; and he subsequently advocated 

 vindictive measures against the royalists. He presided 

 in the national assembly in September, and, becom- 

 ing a member of the convention, he warmly engaged 

 in the schemes of the revolutionary party. About this 

 time, he was charged with the management of some 

 negotiations with foreign powers, but they proved un- 

 successful. He was then sent on a mission to Alsace, 

 and, at Colmar, he ran great risk of being assassinat- 

 ed in a popular insurrection. In November, 1792, he 

 was again employed as a commissioner from the con- 

 vention to the army in the department of Mont Blanc, 

 and he was thus absent from Paris during the tria! 

 of the king. He, however, in conjunction with his 

 colleagues, Jagot and Simond, wrote a letter to the 

 convention, charging Louis XVI. with an uninter 

 rupted series or treasons, and recommending his 

 condemnation, without mentioning the punishment to 

 be inflicted. But he chiefly distinguished himself in 

 the contest between the Mountain and Gironde parties 

 and he powerfully co-operated in the destruction o 

 the latter. He was also a member of the committe* 

 of public safety. But all his services to the terrorists 

 did not save him from the scaffold. He was denounc 

 ed, March 17, 1794, for having, as he was accused 

 concealed an emigrant, and as belonging to tlu 

 faction of Danton, with whom he was executed 01 

 the oth of April following. He displayed grea 

 courage, or rather levity of conduct, in his las 

 moments, bidding adieu to his companions with a 

 much sang-froid as if he had been going to a party o 

 pleasure. 



HERBARIUM, or HORTUS S1CCUS ; a dry 



;arden ; an appellation given to a collection of 

 pecimens of plants, carefully dried and preserved, 

 "he value of such a collection is very evident, since 

 thousand minutiae may be preserved in the well- 

 ried specimens of plants, which the most accurate 

 ngraver would have omitted. Specimens ought to 

 ie collected when dry, and carried home in a tin 

 jox. Plants may be dried by pressing in a box of 

 and, or with a hot smoothing iron. Each of these 

 ins its advantages. If pressure be employed, a 

 )otanical press may be procured. The press is made 

 f two smooth boards of hard wood, eighteen inches 

 ong, twelve broad, and two thick. Screws must be 

 ixed in each corner with nuts. If a press cannot 

 easily be had, books may be employed. Next, some 

 [uires of unsized blotting paper must be provided. 

 The specimens, when taken out of the tin box, must 

 )e carefully spread on a piece of pasteboard, covered 

 with a single sheet of the paper, quite dry ; then 

 hree or four sheets of the same paper, must be placed 

 ,bove the plant, to imbibe the moisture as it is press- 

 d out. It is then to be put into the press. As 

 many plants as the press will hold may be piled up 

 n this manner. At first, they ought to be pressed 

 ently. After being pressed for about twenty-four 

 lours, the plants ought to be examined, that any 

 eaves or petals which have been folded may be 

 spread out, and dry sheets of paper laid over 

 hem. They may now be replaced in the press, 

 and a greater degree of pressure applied. The press 

 ought to stand near a fire, or in the sunshine. After 

 remaining two days in this situation, they should 

 je again examined, and dry sheets of paper laid over 

 ;hem. The pressure then ought to be considerably 

 increased. After remaining three days longer in the 

 press, the plants may be taken out, and such as are 

 sufficiently dry may be put in a dry sheet of writing 

 paper. Those plants which are succulent may require 

 more pressure, and the blotting paper to be again 

 renewed. Plants which dry very quickly ought to 

 be pressed with considerable force when first put 

 into the press ; and, if delicate, the blotting paper 

 ihould be changed every day. When the stem is 

 woody, it may be thinned with a knife, and, if the 

 flower be thick or globular, as the thistle, one side 

 of it may be cut away, as all that is necessary, in a 

 specimen, is to preserve the character of the class, 

 order, genus, and species. Plants may be dried in a 

 box of sand in a more expeditious manner ; and this 

 method preserves the colour of some plants better. 

 The specimens, after being pressed for ten or twelve 

 hours, must be laid within a sheet of blotting paper. 

 The box must contain an inch deep of fine dry sand 

 on which the sheet is to be placed, and then covered 

 with sand an inch thick ; another sheet may then 

 be deposited in the same manner, and so on, till the 

 box be full. The box must be placed near a fire for 

 two or three days. Then the sand must be carefully 

 removed, and the plants examined. If not sufficiently 

 dried, they may again be replaced in the same manner 

 for a day or two. In drying plants with a hot smooth- 

 ing iron, they must be placed within several sheets of 

 blotting paper, and ironed till they become sufficiently 

 dry. This method answers best for drying succulent 

 and mucilaginous plants. When properly dried, the 

 specimens should be placed in sheets of writing paper, 

 and may be slightly fastened by making the top and 

 bottom of the stalk pass through a slip of the paper, 

 cut for the purpose. The name of the genus and 

 species should be written down, the place where it 

 was found, nature of the soil, and the season of the 

 year. These specimens may be collected into general 

 orders and classes, and titled and preserved in a port- 

 folio or cabinet. The method of preserving many of 

 the cryptogamous plants is more difficult, on account 



