54 THREE KINGDOMS. 



In conclusion, we will say that dried plants can be 

 studied almost as well as the fresh. A short soaking 1 in 

 water softens the parts, restores the contours, and makes 

 everything available for dissection. Indeed, the larger 

 part of a systematic botanist's work is upon dried plants. 

 The herbarium is a sort of cyclopaedia a book of refer- 

 ence, where the explanations are afforded by the plants 

 themselves. It is out of the question personally to col- 

 lect all the plants even of a single family whose times of 

 blooming and fruiting are different, and whose locali- 

 ties are remote, and perhaps to you inaccessible. In the 

 herbarium you have the whole range side by side and can 

 institute comparisons. In the useful study of plant dis- 

 tribution, as in many other ways, then, the hortus siccus is 

 a necessity. 



It may not be out of place, in connection with rules 

 for preserving plants, to give the following method of 

 preparing specimens of wood for the cabinet: Cut boards 

 five by eight inches and a quarter of an inch thick. Sea- 

 son, and plane smooth. Varnish one-half. Then cut 

 from a sapling, two or three inches in diameter, some 

 pieces one-quarter of an inch thick. Saw these in a 

 square mitre-box. Saw off several, as some may warp or 

 split. In summer, the pieces will season without a fire. 

 In winter, a fire is needed, but the wood should not be put 

 too near it. When the end sections are seasoned, smooth 

 one side carefully with a rasp, so as not to mar the bark. 

 Finish with fine sand-paper. Polish, oil, or varnish, being 

 careful not to varnish the bark. When dry, fasten with 

 small screws, from the back, to the center of the boards 

 previously described. 



For most of the excellent advice regarding the care 

 of plants, which is presented in this chapter, we are in- 

 debted to Prof. W. Whitman Bailey. In closing, we com- 



