Preservation of Botanical Specimens. 311 



animal preserver, of Museum Street, in the conducting of 

 these and many similar researches. The liberal manner in 

 which he has permitted me to inspect the great variety of 

 recent wildfowl that continually pass through his hands has 

 enabled me to speak with precision and confidence on many 

 points, concerning which I should otherwise have been, to 

 say the least, doubtful. It is needless to add, that a wide field 

 for observation is here open to the practical ornithologist. 

 North Brixton, April 12. 1837. 



Art. IV. On the Preservation of Botanical Specimens from the 

 Attacks of Insects. By J. P. Brown, Esq. 



The preservation of his herbarium from the attacks of in- 

 sects is, of course, a subject of the first importance to every bo- 

 tanist : but on what means can he rely with any confidence of 

 success ? Sir J. E. Smith strongly recommends washing with 

 a solution of corrosive sublimate, as "perfectly efficacious." 

 Dr. Lindley objects to this plan, as "a doubtful mode of 

 preservation, expensive, and, in large collections, excessively 

 troublesome ; " and prefers the use of camphor, suspended in 

 small open paper bags, fixed to the inside of the doors of his 

 cabinets. (Inst):, p. 467.) It being, then, a point on which 

 " doctors differ," it may be satisfactory to some of your 

 readers to be informed of the result of a severe trial, borne by 

 my own collection, which, at the recommendation of Sir J. 

 E. Smith, has been washed with the corrosive solution. 



Having to quit our former abode before our present resi- 

 dence was ready for our reception, the Chateau of Thun 

 presented the only eligible temporary quarters to be obtained 

 in the neighbourhood. You are, no doubt, aware that the 

 chateau in question is situated on a sharp hill, up which it 

 would be by no means desirable to drag heavy furniture, col- 

 lections of minerals, insects, plants, &c, with the certainty of 

 having soon to transfer the whole to the top of another hill 

 in precisely the opposite direction. I was therefore glad to 

 accept the offer of a large room in the immediate vicinity of 

 the house we were about to inhabit. The room was not in my 

 friend's residence, but in that of the farmer, whose house, 

 which is tolerably ancient, is constructed almost entirely of 

 wood, as is customary amongst the peasantry of this country. 

 On entering the room, the first circumstance which struck 

 my attention was, that there was scarcely a plank or a beam 

 in its walls, floor, or ceiling, which did not appear to be, or 

 to have been, inhabited by a colony of insects : it was a per- 



