4 INTRODUCTION. 



flower is carried out in detail, and in comparison v ith others, so 

 as to ascertain all its characters, with a view to determine its 

 special peculiarities and its relations to other plants. It is a very 

 useful and improving exercise for the student to make drawings, 

 however rough, of what he sees, to make a thorough examina- 

 tion, and to write down in full the appearances of the plants he 

 meets with, before searching in books for their names, and also to 

 do the same with known plants, and then to compare the characters 

 thus drawn up with those given in authentic works. Further in- 

 struction as to the mode of describing plants and the use of 

 schedules as required in most examinations is given in the section 

 devoted to the description of plants. 



To those who follow out Systematic Botany in detail, and wish 

 to gain acquaintance with the species of plants, it becomes neces- 

 sary to have access to a Herbarium that is, a collection of plants 

 so dried that the specific characters, at least, are preserved. In 

 many cases, if the drying has been carefully effected, the generic 

 characters may be ascertained by soaking the flowers in boiling 

 water, when they become softened and the parts separable, like 

 tea-leaves after infusion. Herbaria furnish materials for the com- 

 parison of plants, as it is seldom that a number of species of one 

 genus can be obtained either wild or in gardens in a fresh state at 

 one time. Persons living in the country, and studying the British 

 plants, will find it indispensable to form a collection of dried 

 specimens. 



How to dry Plants. Plants are dried by laying them out 

 smoothly when fresh between several folds of paper (either stout 

 blotting-paper, or, still better, what is called "Botanical paper," 

 made for the purpose), and submitting them to pressure by means 

 of weights laid on a board. The damp paper must be frequently 

 replaced by dry sheets ; and when the plants are quite dry, they may 

 be fixed to half-sheets of white paper, with a little thin glue, or by 

 simply attaching them by bands of gummed paper, or by stitching. 

 The best kind of paper is stout white cartridge, of demy size; 

 some prefer a stout writing-paper, rather smaller, of the same size 

 as lawyer's " draff-paper. Only one species should be placed 

 upon one half-sheet; the name should be written on the lower 

 left-hand corner. The half-sheets containing the species of a genus 

 may be placed in a sheet of the same paper, the name of the genus 

 being written outside, likewise at the left-hand bottom corner. 

 These sheets may be kept in drawers or in pigeon-holes of a cabinet, 

 or may be tied up in bundles, between covers of stout pasteboard. 

 It is advisable to poison the dried plants with a solution of corrosive 

 sublimate in spirits of wine, as some of them are very liable to be 



