1893.] D. Prain — Methods of preparing Botanical Specimens. 155 



a glass stopper with wax is best — the fluid does not evaporate ; the 

 flowers, therefore, do not reach the air and seein to keep indefinitely. 



II. Conifers. The Pine, Fir and Spruce family is usually very 

 troublesome to preserve both in the field and afterwards in the Her- 

 barium, from the readiness with which the cones fall to pieces and the 

 leaves (needles) drop off. In the Calcutta Herbarium there are a num- 

 ber of beautiful specimens of Japanese Conifers presented by Mr. 0. 

 Maries, F. L.S.,*who collected them. The winter anxious to learn 

 the secret of the success with which so troublesome a family had been 

 treated asked Mr. Maries if he would kindly explain his method. Mr. 

 Maries' reply, which he has courteously permitted the writer to com- 

 municate to the Society, is as follows : — 



" Conifer specimens of the Abies or Picea section are generally rather 

 " difficult to dry. When I was in the island of Yesso, in the North 

 " Pacific, I was very much troubled with them. One night I arrived 

 " very wet at my rooms and stacked my branches of Abies, with the 

 " cones attached, round a big charcoal fire. I fell asleep and woke up 

 " next morning to find my specimens dried beautifully. After this I 

 " always dried them slowly over a charcoal fire, first wiring or wrapping 

 " up the cones. All fir-cones, except Pine, or Spruce, or Cedar, should 

 " be tied up either with cotton or wire immediately they are gathered. 

 " The Spruce section is the most difficult to dry, even roasting is not 

 " always a success." 



Mr. Maries goes on to say : — " The way I dry ferns and leaves 

 "of trees for fitting up my bird-cases " (in the Grwalior State Museum) 

 " to preserve their natural shape, is to take some very clean, washed 

 " sand, arrange the leaves in a clean box and fill in with hot sand, and 

 " keep at a temperature of 100° to 120 ° Ph. or even more. They soon 

 " dry (I imagine Spruce would dry like this if very hot) and flowers 

 " dry beautifully in this way, some keeping their natural colours in a 

 " most remarkable manner. When I was young and living in London, an 

 " old gardener taught me this ; he used it for ferns and roses for winter 

 " decorations when fresh ferns and flowers were scarce. All the dried 

 " flowers one sees in florists' shops in London are dried in hot sand. 

 "— C. Maries." 



III. Orchidace^:, The Orchid family is perhaps the most trou- 

 blesome of all natural families to represent in Herbaria. In all the 

 epiphytic kinds the leaves and, in most of them, the flowers also are apt 

 to drop off when the specimens are dried in the ordinary way, while 

 even in ground Orchids the pressure that has to be applied during dry- 

 ing usually so distorts the flower that a true conception of the relative 



* Superintendent of the State Gardens and State Museum at Gwalior. 



