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BOTANICAL COLLECTING IN THE TEOPICS. 



By G. P. Scott-Elliot, M.A., F.L.S. 



There is nothing so easy as plant collecting, provided one 

 follows a few simple and easy rules, for want of which the collector 

 may waste a great deal of time and trouble. Perhaps the result of 

 my experience in Madagascar, West Africa and the Transvaal, may 

 be of use to other travellers. The first important point is to know 

 what sort of specimens are required. The usual size of herbarium 

 sheets is about 18 in. by 11, and the specimens should under no 

 circumstances be too large for such a sheet. In the case of herbs 

 and small shrubs, the best method is to pull up the whole plant. 

 Most small shrubs and herbs are hemispherical in outline, and in 

 the case of very bushy shrublets or very vigorous herbs it is best 

 to cut off most of the outside branches, so as to obtain a median 

 section of the plant. Large shrubs and trees should be represented 

 by a flowering or fruiting branch about a foot long, containing both 

 flowers and typical foliage. Specimens without flowers or fruit are 

 useless, and tbe only excuse for bringing them is when they are of 

 great commercial or medical importance. 



The necessary articles of outfit are paper, frames, two or three 

 pairs of strong gardener's or wirecutter's scissors, naphthaline and 

 tin boxes. The paper I have found most satisfactory is that sold 

 by West, Newman & Co. ; there are two kinds, the thin and the 

 thick, and I find an equal weight of each very convenient. I 

 cannot recommend the brown paper supplied by Kew, although 

 I believe others have spoken very highly of it. The best frames, 

 to my mind, are made in Germany, and not sold, to my knowledge, 

 by any firm in England; I must therefore describe them and 

 recommend travellers to resort to the British blacksmith, who will 

 generally carry out instructions satisfactorily. 



The frames are double, each consisting of an outer edge formed 

 of iron lathe about three -eighths of an inch in thickness and one 

 inch broad ; these are joined together to form an oblong the size of 

 the paper employed or a little larger (*; e., about eighteen inches 

 by twelve inches). Thin lathe is simply an edge, and is completed 

 by a set of wires passing lengthwise and across, so as to cover the 

 space with an iron network, of which the meshes are about half an 

 inch square ; these wires should end in holes bored in the lathe, 

 In each frame one half should have four strong chains about six 

 inches long, fixed to the longer sides (two to each longer side about 

 four inches from either end) ; the other half should have four hooks 

 placed in corresponding positions, on to which the chain-links (prefer- 

 ably square) should fit ; the hooks are best made of a triangular 

 piece of iron about an inch long, riveted on to the iron lathe and 

 turned up at the tip, A pile of papers with plants in them is 

 placed on the chain-frame and the hook-frame is placed upon 

 them ; the chains are then pulled up and slipped over the hooks ; it 

 is best to stand on the frame while doing this, so as to get the 

 plants as strongly pressed between the two as possible. Once the 



