TORREYA 



Vol. II 



July, igii 



No. 7 



HERBARIUM SUGGESTIONS 



By Edward L. Morris 



This article is presented not with the idea of establishing any- 

 thing specially new to those interested in herbarium work and 

 equipment, but with the hope that the solutions suggested will 

 answer some of the problems which many of us have run across 

 from time to time. 



Nearly everyone who has consulted American herbaria has 

 noticed the enormous pigeon hole boards, indicating the contents 

 of the herbarium, usually arranged by families. These large 

 boards, if made of the size of the pigeon hole and hanging from 

 the top of a full package, are awkward, unsightly, and have the 

 disadvantage of being heavy, if made strong enough to stand 

 wear and tear. We have also witnessed the other extreme, in 

 some herbaria, by finding nothing whatever to indicate the 

 contents of this or that tier of spaces in the cases; or, if such indi- 

 cation were fastened on the outside of the case, experience has 

 often taught us that the location of such signs has not kept 

 progress with the growth and redistribution of the covers in 

 the series of pigeon holes. 



Figure i indicates a very mild form of overhanging tags to show 

 the location and sequence of plant families. The main difficulty 

 is the readiness with which these tags are torn off, if fastened, or 

 drop out, if merely sHpped into the first genus cover. Uni- 

 formity is highly desirable, and when a system of family boards 

 is once installed, the space alloted to such installation will remain 

 constant. 



Figure 2 is submitted with the suggestion that each family 

 board takes little space, is of light weight and, in the use of the 



[No. 6, Vol. II, of Torreya, composing pp. 125-144 was issued 19 June 191 1.] 



145 , 



