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125 
ON GATHERING, GROWING AND PREPARING 
MOSSES FOR THE HERBARIUM. 
ALBERT WILSON, 
Garstang. 
Every bryologist who has done much field work will have his 
own ideas as to the best way to proceed in collecting, drying, 
and storing his specimens. I venture, however, to make a few 
remarks on methods which I have found satisfactory in my 
own experience. 
Dealing first with the work in the field—as a holder for the 
plants I have found nothing better than an ordinary mat bag. 
It is light in weight, easy to carry, and very handy for slipping 
the specimens in. A few small tin boxes are also useful for 
storing small or delicate species. As each plant is gathered 
I wrap it in paper and place with it a slip giving the locality, 
habitat, or other details, and the altitude where necessary. 
Ordinary newspaper is admirably adapted for the purpose, 
and the blank edges cut into strips about three inches by one 
inch serve for slips. This wrapping and labelling may seem 
troublesome at the time, but it not only prevents the specimens 
from being broken up or injured, but it is a great convenience 
and saving of time afterwards, as the slips of paper giving the 
locality, etc., can be placed along with their respective specimens 
during the drying process, and they are ready as references 
when the plants are transferred to their envelopes. In ex- 
cursions extending to several days the wrapping and labelling 
is absolutely necessary, as it is quite impossible to remember 
the exact localities where large numbers—say hundreds—of 
specimens are gathered. If the plants can be examined or 
placed in the drying paper without much delay they need no 
special treatment, but if they cannot be dealt with for say 
five or six days or longer, and one is moving about from place 
to place, it is desirable each evening to open the packets and 
expose the contents to the air, so that they may dry during 
the night, otherwise they may be injured by mould. A better 
way still is to send them home by post, and arrange for them 
to be opened and spread out to dry in some place where they 
will not be disturbed, care being of course taken that the labels 
are not removed from the packets. They can then be dealt 
with in batches of convenient size as time permits. It is only 
necessary to damp them to bring them back to their original 
form, and this is best accomplished by placing the opened 
paper packets on a large dish in layers, one on top of the other, 
with a liberal sprinkling of water on each, and then placing 
an inverted dish on the top and allowing them to remain for 
about twenty-four hours. 
Naturalist, 
