INTRODUCTION. 27 



Sometimes they are fastened down with some kind of 

 adhesive substance, after being dried, gum tragicantli 

 being the best for this. Others take them and float 

 them out a second time in skimmed milk, and after 

 wiping off the milk from the paper and plants except 

 directly under the plants, put them in the press to dry 

 again, when, it is said, they stay. I have never tried 

 this method. A friend of mine, who is famous for the 

 artistic way in which she always " lays out " her '' Sea 

 Mosses," tells me that for these forms which lack, what 

 the Phrenologist might call '' Adhesiveness " she prepares 

 from the " Irish Moss," Chondrus crispus, a semi- 

 fluid paste, into which she dips them before putting 

 them on paper, and then carefully removes all of it 

 from the paper and plant, except what is between the 

 two, and then puts them in the press. By this means, 

 they are made to stick, "like the paper upon the 

 wall." 



In preparing the coarser " Rockweed " and "Kelp" 

 for the herbarium, another method will have to be 

 pursued. These will almost all turn very dark, or 

 quite black, in the process of drying. I am accus- 

 tomed to treat them according to the following 

 method : Taking them home, I spread them out 

 in some shaded place, and let them lie for a few 

 hours, perhaps twenty-four, perhaps less or more. 



