BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [4] 



MATERIAL TO BE COLLECTED. 



Material for identiJiGation. — Probably the most important fact to be 

 learned about a vegetable product of aboriginal use is the scientific 

 name of the plant from which it was derived. To obtain material, there- 

 fore, upon which a positive identification can be made should be the 

 first object of the observer. If he is a botanist, and consequently in the 

 habit of making herbarium specimens, he will be able to forward material 

 in that form, which is wholly satisfactory for the purpose. To those 

 not familiar with the preparation of herbarium specimens the following 

 brief statement will be found useful: A herbarium specimen should 

 consist of a flowering or fruiting plant, including not merely the por- 

 tion above ground, but such an amount of the root, rootstock, tuber, or 

 other underground parts as will indicate clearly their characteristics. 

 It is often impossible to secure all these portions of a plant on a single 

 specimen, but two or more should be collected when necessary. The 

 specimen should be placed in a folded sheet of bibulous paper, such as 

 the cheaper grades upon which common daily newspapers are printed. 

 These sheets containing the plants are placed in a pile alternating 

 with two or three sheets of common carpet paper, or blotting paper, 

 and subjected, between two boards of the same size as the sheets, to a 

 pressure of 15 to 30 pounds, applied by straps or by a weight, and so 

 regulated as neither to crush the tender parts of the green specimens 

 nor to allow the leaves to wrinkle in drying. Stems, roots, or other 

 parts exceeding a quarter of an inch in thickness should be thinned 

 on the back with a knife before pressing. Specimens of fleshy fruits, 

 additional to the plant itself, may be dried in the open air, inclosed in 

 ■envelopes, and placed in the folded sheets with the specimens of the 

 plant. The specimens in their containing sheets should be removed 

 from the pile of moist carpet paper each day to a similar pile of well- 

 dried ones, and in most cases they will be found thoroughly pressed 

 and dried within three to seven days. The sheets upon which speci- 

 mens are mounted in most herbaria are of a standard size, 11^ by IG^ 

 inches, and all the specimens dried should come within this limit. It 

 is best, therefore, to use carpet paper and containers no larger than 

 the herbarium sheets. If a plant is too large to be preserved entire in 

 its normal position it may be bent in the form of an inverted V or an N 

 and brought within the proper dimensions, or, if still too large, as in 

 the case of trees and some herbaceous plants, branches and other por- 

 tions of suitable size, illustrative of the whole plant, should be secured. 



If it is impracticable for the observer to prepare herbarium speci- 

 mens, he should collect a specimen of the entire plant, or, in the case 

 ■of very large plants, representative portions, wrap them up securely in 

 paper while still fresh, using preferably a glazed or oiled paper, and 

 forward immediately, so that they may reach their destination in a 

 fresh state. Herbarium specimens may be preserved indefinitely, and 



