xxii DIRECTIONS FOR STUDY. 



Small herbs may be preserved entire. If the radicle 

 leaves are withered at flowering-time, get a younger speci- 

 men in which they are fresh. When herbs are too large 

 for this, they may be cut in sections, or folded, or you 

 must be content with branches and specimen-leaves taken 

 from near the root. In the case of woody plants, one or 

 more shoots should be taken, bearing leaves, flowers, and 

 fruit. Both sterile and fertile flowers should be obtained 

 from monoecious and dioecious plants. 



The specimens, when freshly gathered, should be laid 

 between the sheets of the portfolio, the more delicate ones 

 being carefully placed between sheets of drying-paper, so 

 that, on reaching home, they can be transferred to the 

 press without being disturbed. The folds and doublings 

 of leaves and petals of ordinary plants, occasioned by the 

 wind, in the open field, are easily smoothed out when 

 putting the plants in press. 



MOUNTING OF SPECIMENS. When the plants are dry, 

 the next thing is to mount them. For this purpose you 

 will need i. Strong, heavy, white paper, larger than fools- 

 cap ; sheets 17^- inches in length byii^ inches in width 

 is a size, on many accounts, desirable. 2. Corrosive sub- 

 limate, for poisoning plants, to keep off insects. 3. Glue, 

 to fasten them upon the paper. 



Dissolve about an ounce of sublimate in a quart of 

 alcohol. It should be labeled, and kept with great care, 

 as it is very poisonous. A simple way of applying the 

 solution is to pour a little into a large, flat platter, so as 

 to cover the bottom, and " immerse the whole specimen 

 for a second therein." After poisoning, the specimens 

 are to be laid between driers, and subjected to slight 

 pressure for twenty-four hours, when they are ready to 

 be fastened to the paper. The flowers and tender parts 

 of coarse, tough plants are all that need poisoning. 



The specimens are to be fastened to the paper with 

 hot glue, about as thick as cream, laid on to the plants 



