40 INTRODUCTION. 



DIRECTIONS 



PRESERVING PLANTS. 



IT 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 endea- 

 vours to become familiar with the objects which vegetation pre- 

 sents to his view, than such a collection, to which he can at all 

 times refer, either for refreshing 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 difficulty, is here 

 recommended. 



The articles necessary for the accomplishment of the object in 

 view are, a quantity of smooth, soft paper, of large size (16 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 weights 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, accord- 

 ing 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 and all. In many 

 cases, portions only of plants can be preserved, on account of their 



