38 



DIRECTIONS 



FOR 



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 con- 

 siderable progress in the study of Botany. But the beginner 

 requires to be informed, that nothing can more materially aid 

 him in his endeavours to become familiar with the objects which 

 vegetation presents 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 pre- 

 viously 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 or vasculum is ne- 

 cessary. This box is made of tin, and varies in size, from nine 

 inches to two feet in length, according to the taste and avidity 

 of the collector. 



