320 



ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



ested ill this class. 10th, Kind of box, case, or cabinet 

 in whicli to place the holders containing the specimens, 

 and whether to let them remain loose in the holders or 

 fasten by mucilage or otherwise. 11th, Make of knife 

 to use in dissecting plants. 12th, Full directions about 

 making a portfolio for collecting specimens when on a 

 .journey. 13th, Method of preparing stone-fruits, so 

 that they can be shown when ripe. 13th, flow to ex- 

 amine dried specimens. 



This is quite a formidable list of questions, but we 

 will take them up seriatim, and answer as well as we 

 are able. 



1. The best time to commence studying botany is 

 during the period of vegetable growth, when plants can 

 be observed in a living state. Certainly something can 

 be learned about plants by simply reading or studying 

 the text-books; and we know that some teachers pre- 

 fer to have their classes commence in the winter term 

 and study morphology, physiology and classification, 

 and then in the spring term enter upon the analysis of 

 plants. This Is probably a good plan for colleges and 

 schools, for all the analytic botany that is obtained there 

 Is that obtained during the spring term, as the schools 

 generally close In June, and do not reopen until Septem- 

 ber, when the best part of the season has passed away. 



2. There Is no lack of good books on structural 

 botany. No man has done more to extend the knowledge 

 of botany in the United States than Prof. A. Gray, 

 whose series of botanical worlcs arc not to be excelled. 

 Prof. Wood has also a number of excellent works on the 

 same subject. Students of Botany In that part of our 

 country lying east of the Mississippi river will find in 

 the Manual of Dr. Gray and the Glass-book of Prof. 

 Wood descriptions of nearly every plant they will be 

 likely to find, exclusive of the lower eryptogamic orders. 

 As we go westward of the Mississippi river, we find 

 species which arc not described in the works mentioned; 

 these species become more and more numerous as we 

 advance to tlie Rocky Mountains. Botanical students 

 in that region of country will be unable to identify many 

 of the plants they meet with. Probably within a few 

 years some work will be published embracing all our 

 vast territory. We have not at hand a list of prices of 

 the botanical works we have mentioned, but they may 

 be obtained through the booksellers of the country. 



3. Good pocket lenses of two or three glasses may be 

 obtained in most large towns. These will answer for 

 the ordinary i)ui'poses ofbotanic.il investigation. There 

 is a very neat arrangement of lenses, called Dr. Gray's 

 microscope for the use ot botanists, so contrived that the 

 lenses may be fixed on a standard, and both hands lelt 

 free to manipulate the object. This, we believe, costs 

 from $2.30 to $4.00; but we do not know the manufac- 

 turers. 



4. That class of students who wish to study erypto- 

 gamic plants, and to Investigate the minute structure of 

 the cells and tissues, etc. , will need a compound micro- 

 scope. We are hardly prepared to recommend any 

 particular kind, further than to say that we would buy 

 an American instrument. Excellent ones are made at 

 Philadelphia, Boston, and other places; Chas. Stodder, 

 60 Milk street, Boston, advertises microscopes in the 

 American Saturalist, and will undoubtedly furnish price 

 lists, etc., on application. 



5. The common collecting box Is made of tin, in a 

 cylindrical form, about two feet long and six inches in 



diameter, with a door or lid nearly the whole length. 

 Specimens may be collected in this box, and if moistened 

 will keep fresh for a day or two, and may be analysed 

 at leisure. A box of this kind is especially useful to 

 collect and keep material for analysis by a class; but 

 most botanists, we apprehend, after a time drop the tin 

 box and employ the portfolio, or collecting book. This 

 is made of strong binder's board, eighteen or twenty 

 inches long anil ten or twelve wide, and may be either 

 a simple co^'er, to be filled with loose sheets, or the 

 sheets may be bound in with blanlc pieces after the 

 manner of a scrap-boolv. The paper should be astrong, 

 smooth and thick manlUa. Into this book the specimens 

 should be placed when collected, and may remain there 

 several hours, or a day, until an opportunity occurs to 

 transfer them to the press. The book may be fastened 

 with straps and buckles at the side and ends, and a 

 handle may be attached for convenience of can-ying. 



fl. White printing paper may be procured either of 

 printers or dealers, as may be most convenient. The 

 price varies with the quality ; it is usually sold by weight, 

 or rather the price per ream depends on the weight. 



7. Specimens containing capsules or pods should be 

 collected before the fruit-vessels are fully ripe, when 

 little trouble will usually be experienced from their 

 bursting. If, however, the seed Is likely to be scattered, 

 it may be kept in a small paper sack, in the same paper 

 with the specimen. Indeed, it Is a good plan to have 

 some seeds of every species kept in this way for ready 

 examination. In cases where the seeds are too large, 

 as in the oaks and hickories, they may be kept in suit- 

 able boxes , ijroperly labeled and numbered . 



8. For getting specimens of flowers and fruit from 

 high trees, the usual mode is by climbing. Nurserymen 

 and orchardists have contrivances, such as shears at- 

 tached to a long handle, long-handled chisels, etc., 

 which might be turned to advantage in some cases. 



9. Students wishing to pursue only special depart- 

 ments of botanical investigation will require special 

 works — as, for Instance, Snllivant on the Mosses and 

 Liverworts of the United States; Harvey on the Marine 

 Alga; of North America. The medical uses and proper- 

 ties of our ijlants are treated of In the American Dis- 

 pensatory, the Eclectic Dispensatory, Bigelow's Ameri- 

 can Medical Botany, and probably in other works with 

 which we are unacquainted. 



10. As lo the final disposition of plants In the Herba- 

 rium; some keep them in folios, some in pasteboard 

 boxes, and some in drawers. In every case they should 

 be excluded from sunlight, and from the approach of 

 insects. Wherever the collection cannot be made sta- 

 tionary and permanent, it will be better to use paste- 

 board boxes. At some future time wewlll give details. 

 We will only say now that the specimens should be 

 gummed to the sheet, either by the direct application 

 of mucilage, or by means of narrow strips of gummed 

 paper fastened across the stems of the plants at suitable 

 intervals. We prefer the latter method. 



11. "We know of no special pattern of knife for dis- 

 secting plants. Any one with a sharp, thin blade will 

 answer most purposes. 



12. This has been answered under No. 5. 



13. We know of no better way of preserving stone- 

 fruits than by drying or keeping in alcohol. 



14. In order to examine dried specimens, the flowers 

 and small parts must be first thoroughly softened by 

 immersion in hot water, or by means of steam. They 

 may then be dissected in the usual way. 



