40 INTEODUCTION. 



have been deposited, and after dry paper has been put about 

 them, returned to their places. The paper may thus be shifted 

 until the plants be perfectly dry, when they are finally removed. 

 Each plant is then placed in a sheet of dry paper, and along 

 with it is deposited a slip of paper, on which are written the 

 name of the plant, the place in which it was gathered, the time 

 of gathering, the soil, and such other circumstances as may 

 tend to elucidate the history of the species. Thus prepared, 

 the plants are packed up in bundles, which gradually enlarge 

 their dimensions, or increase in number, until the end of the 

 season. 



Having in this manner prepared a certain number of plants, 

 the collector has now to arrange them. For this purpose he 

 has to procure a quantity of good stout writing or printing 

 paper of large size, folded in folio, which is to be stitched in 

 coloured covers, making fasciculi of five or six sheets each. A 

 quantity of finer paper, in half sheets, folio size, cut round the 

 edges, is also to be at hand. Let a number of narrow slips of 

 different lengths be cut from a piece of the same paper, and let 

 some prepared isinglass or dissolved gum tragacanth or gum 

 arabic be in readiness, together with a camel-hair pencil. 

 Take a dried plant, lay it upon a leaf of the fine cut paper, then 

 fasten it down by means of a few of the slips of paper, to which 

 isinglass or gum has been applied, laid across the stem and 

 some of the branches. Two or three slips are generally suffi- 

 cient for a plant or specimen. In this manner all the dried 

 plants destined to form part of the herbarium are treated. 

 Write the name of each species on the top of the leaf, and tran- 

 scribe the notice respecting the place in which it was gathered, 

 &c. at the bottom. Then arrange the plants according to sys- 

 tem, and lay one between every two pages of the fasciculi. 

 The fasciculi are formed into bundles, by being laid alternately 

 up and down upon each other, as they do not lie conveniently 

 when the heads of the plants are all at the top of the bundle, 

 because the stalks and roots are thicker than the flowers. 

 These bundles, consisting each of ten fasciculi or so, may be 

 covered by pieces of pasteboard tied by strings. The collection 

 is kept on the shelves of a cabinet, or in a chest. To prevent 

 the attacks of insects, it is necessary to place beside it a piece 

 of sponge soaked full of rectified oil of turpentine ; and to 

 ensure it against decay from damp it ought to be kept in a dry 

 and well-ventilated place. 



The above is an orderly method of forming an herbarium : 



