OUTLINES OF BOTANY. xxv 



222. The fruit nourishes and protects the seed until its maturity, and then often promotes its 

 dispersion by a great variety of contrivances or apparently collateral circumstances, e.g. by an 

 elastic dehiscence which casts the seed off to a distance ; by the development of a pappus, 

 wings, hooked or other appendages, which allows them to be carried oft by winds, or by animals, 

 etc., to which they may adhere ; by their small specific gravity, which enables them to float 

 down streams; by their attractions to birds, etc., who, taking them for food, drop them often at 

 great distances, etc. Appendages to the seeds themselves also often promote dispersion. 



223. Hairs have various Jfunctions. The ordinary indumentum (171) of stems and leaves 

 indeed seems to take little part in the economy of the plant besides perhaps some occasional 

 protection against injurious atmospheric influences, but the root-hairs (216)are active absorbents, 

 the hairs on styles and other parts of flowers appear 'often materially to assist the transmission 

 of pollen, and the exudations of glandular hairs (175, 2) are often too copious not to exercise 

 some influence on the phenomena of vegetation. The whole question however of vegetable 

 exudations and their influence on the economy of vegetable life, is as yet but imperfectly 

 understood. 



Chap. IV. Collection, Peesbevation, and Detekmination or Plants. 



224. Plants can undoubtedly be most easily and satisfactorily examined when freshly gathered. 

 But time will rarely admit of this being done, and it is moreover desirable to compare them 

 with other plants previously observed or collected. Specimenx must, therefore, be selected for 

 leisurely observation at home, and preserved for future reference. A collection of such specimens 

 constitutes a Herbariwm. 



225. A botanical Specimen, to be perfect, should have root, stem, leaves, flowers (both 

 open and in the bud), amA. fruit (both young and mature). It is not, however, always possible to 

 gather such complete specimens, but the collector should aim at completeness. Fragments, such 

 as leaves without flowers, or flowers without leaves, are of little or no use. 



226. If the plant is small (not exceeding 15in.) or can be reduced to that length by folding, 

 the specimen should consist of the whole plant, including the principal part of the root. If it 

 be too large to preserve the whole, a good flowering-branch should be selpoted, with the foliage 

 as low down as can be gathered with it ; and one or two of the lower stem-leaves or radical 

 leaves, if any, should be added, so as to preserve as much as possible of the peculiar aspect of 

 the plant. 



227. The specimens should be taken from healthy uninjured plants of a medium size. Or if 

 a specimen be gathered because it looks a little different from the majority of those around it, 

 apparently belonging to the same species, a specimen of the more prevalent form should be 

 taken from the same locality for comparison. 



228. For bringing the specimens home, a light portfolio of pasteboard, covered with calico or 

 leather, furnished with straps and buckles for closing, and another for slinging on the shoulder, 

 and containing a few sheets of stout coarse paper, is better than the old-fashioned tin box 

 (except, perhaps, for stiff prickly plants and a few others). The specimens as gathered are 

 placed Ijetween the leaves of paper, and may be crowded together if not left long without sorting. 



229. If the specimen brought home be not immediately determined when fresh, but dried for 

 future examination, a note should be taken of the time, place, and situation in which it was 

 gathered ; of the stature, habit, and other particulars relating to any tree, shrub, or herb of 

 which the specimen is only a portion ; of the kind of root it has ; of the ooloHr of the flower ; 

 or of any other particulars which the specimen itself cannot supply, or which may be lost in the 

 process of drying. These memoranda, whether taken down in the field, or from the living 

 specimen when brought home, should be written on a label attached to the specimen or preserved 

 with it. 



230. To dry specimens, they are laid flat between several sheets of bibulous paper, and 

 subjected to pressure. The paper is subsequently changed at intervals, until they are dry. 



231. In laying out the specimen, care should be taken to preserve the natural position of the 

 parts as far as consistent with the laying flat. In general, if the specimen is fresh and not very 

 slender, it may be simply laid on the lower sheet, holding it by the stalk and drawing it slightly 

 downwards ; then, as the upper sheet is laid over, if it be slightly drawn downwards as it is 

 pressed down, it will be found, after a few trials, that the specimen will have retained a natural 

 form with very little trouble. If the specimen has been gathered long enough to have become 

 flaccid, it will require more care in laying the leaves flat and giving the parts their proper 

 direction. Specimens kept in tin boxes, will also often have taken unnatural bends which will 

 require to be corrected. 



232. If the specimen is very bushy, some branches must be thinned out, but always so as to 

 show where they have been. If any part, such as the head of a thistle, the stem of an 

 Orohanche, or the bulb of a Lily, be very thick, a portion of what is to be the under side of the 

 specimen may be sliced off. Some thick specimens may be split from top to bottom before 

 drying. 



