30 HERBARIUM. 



the name o( flower to these envelopes, which are often remarkable 

 for the brilhancy of their colours, the elegance of their forms and 

 the fragrance of their perfmnes. 



Method of preserving Plants, and of preparing an Herbarium. 

 Plants collected for analysis, may be preserved fresh many days, 

 in a close tin box, by occasionally sprinkling them with water; they 

 may also be preserved by placing their stems in water, but not as 

 well by the latter, as the former method. While attending to the 

 science of Botany, you should keep specimens of all the plants you 

 can procure. An herbarium neatly arranged is beautiful, and may 

 be rendered highly useful, by affording an opportunity to compare 

 many species together, and it likewise serves to fix in the mind the 

 characters of plants. It is a good method in collecting plants for an 

 herbarium, to have a port-folio, or a book in which they may be 

 placed before the parts begin to wilt. Specimens should be placed 

 between the leaves of paper, either newspaper or any other kind 

 which is of a loose texture, and will easily absorb the moisture of the 

 plants ; a board with a weight upon it should then be placed upon 

 the paper containing them ; the plants should be taken out frequently 

 at first ; as often as once or twice a day, and the paper dried, or the 

 plants placed between other dry sheets of paper. Small plants may 

 oe dried between the leaves of a book. Plants differ in the length of 

 time required for drying as they are more or less juicy ; some diy in 

 a few days, others not sooner than two or three weeks. When the 

 specimens are dry, and a sufficient number collected to commence 

 an herbarium, a book should be procured, composed of blank paper, 

 (white paper gives the plants a more showy appearance.) A quarto 

 size is more convenient than a folio. Upon the first page of each leaf 

 should be fastened one or more of the dried specimens, either with 

 glue or bv means of cutting through the paper, and raising up loops 

 under which the stems may be placed. By the sides of the plants 

 should be written the class^ order., generic^ and specif c name ; also 

 the place where found, and the season of the year. The colours of 

 plants frequently change in drying ; the blue, pale red, and white, 

 often turn black, or lose their colour ; yellow, scarlet, violet, and 

 green, are more durable. An herbarium should be carefully guard- 

 ed against moisture and insects : as a security against the latter, the 

 plants may be brushed over with corrosive-subhmate, 



Botanical Excursions. 



As a healthful and agreeable exercise, we would recommend fre- 

 quent botanical excursions ; you will experience more pleasure from 

 the science, by seeing the flowers in their own homes; a dry grove 

 of woods, the borders of little streams, the meadows, the pastures, 

 and even the waysides, will afford you constant subjects for botanical 

 observations. To the hardier sex, who can climb mountains, and 

 penetrate marshes, many strange and interesting plants will present 

 themselves, which cannot be foupd except in their peculiar situations ; 

 of these you must be content to obtain specimens, without seeing 

 them in their native wilds. You will, no doubt, easily obtain such 

 specimens, for there is, usually, among the cultivators of natural sci- 

 ence, a generosity in affording assistance, and imparting to others 

 the treasures which nature lavishes upon those who have a taste to 

 enjoy them. 



Method of preserving plants, and of preparing an herbarium — Botanical excur- 

 eimis. 



