xiv FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



pricked with the point of a knife to hasten the process of scalding, for the final 

 result, particularly in regard to the green colour of the leaves, makes it well worth 

 the trouble. Dipping in boiling water is also recommended in the case of Heaths, 

 which shed their leaves while being dried. 



With the help of the notebook or diary already referred to, it is well to write 

 on a rough, temporary label the name of the plant, if known, the place where it 

 came from, date, and 'approximate altitude if in the mountains. It is interesting 

 sometimes to add the kind of soil or geological formation. These labels should 

 be placed with the specimens they refer to, and afterwards copied when the plants 

 are mounted. If a series of one species or variety, especially when belonging to 

 a critical genus, be collected, every example should have a little label or ticket 

 with the same number, while one label only need have the full particulars. 



When the specimens are quite dry and stiff they can be packed close together, 

 with only a single sheet of paper between each layer, and this paper need not be 

 absorbent, but if it is un glazed the specimens will keep in position better when 

 travelling, and not slip about so readily if the parcel is not quite tight. 



In hot countries it is desirable to poison collections of dried plants by painting 

 them over with a solution of mercuric chloride or corrosive sublimate, to protect 

 them against insects. This is done at Kew Herbarium, and also by a few 

 amateur botanists in this country ; but in England it is not really necessary, if 

 camphor or naphthaline be freely used, as is the case in the National Herbarium 

 at South Kensington. In addition to spoiling some specimens, and to the sub- 

 sequent peculiar blackening of the mounting paper in many cases, and to the 

 offensive fumes which in hot weather sometimes rise from specimens treated with 

 corrosive sublimate, the solution is, of course, a most deadly poison, and must 

 be handled with great care. 



The preservative solution used at Kew is as follows : 



oz. corrosive sublimate, 



^ oz. carbolic acid, 



i pint methylated spirit. 



It is better that the specimens should be quite dry before they are poisoned. 

 It is usually done with a large camel-hair brush, but there should be no metal 

 mountings about it, and all steel instruments such as knives, scissors, or forceps 

 must be kept away from the solution or it will quickly corrode them. If the 

 solution contains too much chloride of mercury a white crystalline deposit will be 

 left on the specimens. But we say again emphatically that in this country " the 

 game is not worth the candle ". If further proof be needed it may be mentioned 

 that the writer has in his own herbarium many hundreds of perfect specimens 

 collected eighty or more years ago which were never " poisoned," but which have 

 suffered nothing from the attacks of insects, and are to-day as complete and in as 

 good condition as ever. 



It has been customary in this country to mount dried plants on paper by 

 means of paste, good gum, or liquid glue. When frequently handled this may 

 have its advantages, and especially if little envelopes containing loose portions 

 of the flower and fruit are attached for careful examination or dissection ; but 

 many amateur botanists attach their specimens to the paper with narrow strips 

 of gummed paper, so that they can be examined on both sides, and altogether 

 removed if desired. The little rolls of transparent adhesive paper sold by 

 stationers for repairing torn music, books, etc., cannot be improved upon for this 

 purpose. Another method sometimes adopted on the Continent is to attach the 



