120 NOMENCLATURE. 



371. In gathering plants for this purpose, or specimens, as they are called, the 

 smaller and herbaceous plants should be taken up with a portion of the roots, 

 while from larger plants there should be selected a shoot, with complete represen 

 tations of the leaves and flowers. They may be preserved for several days, with- 

 out withering, in the tin box, or they may at once be laid between several thick- 

 nesses of the paper, and enclosed in the portable press. It is always desirable 

 that they be gathered in a dry day ; if not, they should be freed from dampness 

 before being committed to the paper and press. 



372. In drying the specimens, great care is required, that they may preserve 

 well their natural appearance, form, and color. It is generally recommended 

 that they be carefully spread out, as nearly in their natural position as possible, 

 between 8 or 10 thicknesses of paper, and then submitted to pressure between the 

 boards. The degree of pressure should never be such as to crush their parts, and 

 may be easily regulated by the screw, or by the number and size of the weights 

 used. Cotton batting may be used to equalize the pressure. 



373. As often as once a day they should be taken from the press, transferred to 

 fresh and dry paper, and returned, until they are thoroughly dried, when they are 

 ready to be transferred to the cabinet. The true secret of preserving specimens 

 with all their colors is to extract the moisture from them by pressure in an abund- 

 ance of dry, bibulous paper as soon as possible. 



374. The next object with the collector is the arrangement of his specimens. 

 For this purpose, each one is first to be fastened to a sheet of firm white paper, 

 about 10 inches by 18, either by glue or with loops of paper of the same kind, or 

 they may be stitched to the paper with a fine needle. The latter mode, if done 

 skilfully, is preferable. Then let all those specimens which belong to the same 

 genus be collected together and placed within a folded sheet of colored paper, 

 with the name of the genus and each species written on the outside. Each sheet 

 should also be labelled with the names of the plant, the locality, tune of gather- 

 ing, habits, &c. 



375. The genera are next to be collected together into orders, each order being 

 wrapped or folded in a still larger sheet, of a different color from that which en- 

 folds the genera, having the name of the order, with a catalogue of its genera on 

 the outside. Thus arranged, the orders are to be laid away upon the shelves of a 

 cabinet, or packed in a chest. To protect the plants from the attacks of insects, 

 pieces of camphor gum are to be placed among them, or a piece of sponge satu- 

 rated with the oil of turpentine. To save them from decay, they should be kept 

 dry, and well ventilated. 



376. Fruits and seeds which are too large to be pressed with the plants, and 

 also truncheons of wood, are to be preserved separately, in a cabinet. 



