On Preserving Organic Specimens. 341 



an herbal after the usual manner, with the precautions I shall 

 soon point out ; but for the preservation of most flowers and flo- 

 ral organs, I would recommend a plan like the following : — 



Throw into a jar which can be closely covered, samples of dif- 

 ferent flowers as they come to hand ; immediately sift upon them 

 fiinely pulverized quick lime, so as to bury them. Again and again 

 throw in other flowers, covering them in the same way, until 

 the jar is full. It may be well enough, for reasons already explain- 

 ed, to fill the cup of the flowers with fine writing sand, before cov- 

 ering them with lime. At any time the lime and flowers may 

 be gently poured out, and the flowers, now perfectly dry, care- 

 fully picked up with little forceps. These flowers may be at- 

 tached to twigs of trees or branches of sea fan or coral, and be en- 

 closed with a few small lumps of quick lime in a sealed glass jar^ 

 in such a way that they can be conveniently inspected. Flint 

 glass phials will answer very well for such as are small. A much 

 neater method is to enclose them in the same way in a shallow 

 box lined with metal, and covered with plate glass. In none of 

 these arrangements, if the sealing be perfect and the lime good^ 

 will the flowers be noticed to fade from the influence of light. 



The same principles may be applied in defending a common 

 herbal from the depredation of insects and from further change 

 by fading. In order to explain a method of effecting these de- 

 siderata, I will here introduce the plan which I am now about 

 putting into practice myself. I procure those large tin boxes in 

 which French silks are imported to this city. Any desirable num- 

 ber of them of similar size, can be bought here for a dollar a piece. 

 They are near four feet long, by three feet broad and two feet 

 high. A part of one side must be handsomely cut out fox a door. 

 This door may be made either of tin plate, or of a large pane of 

 thick crown glass framed and sealed in metal. It must be at- 

 tached to the box by hinges ; its inner surface near the margin 

 must present a continuous band of gum elastic ; around the mar- 

 gin must be eight or ten fastenings, in order to close the opening 

 completely, by pressing the opposing surfaces of metal upon the 

 gum elastic. The door place might be rendered more substan- 

 tial, by soldering around it such brass strips as are used in fasten- 

 ing down stair carpets ; and corresponding strips might also be 

 soldered upon the door itself These boxes may be painted, and 

 arranged on a series of handsome shelves. Besides containing 



