OF THE MARINE ALG^E. 99 



sheet only is left between each specimen. In this state 

 the pile should be left for several days, until the plants lie 

 quite flat and all danger of their curling up is past. 



It frequently happens that the gelatinous Algse, such as 

 Mesogloia, are found adhering by their upper surface to the 

 stearine paper ; but there is not the least necessity to try 

 and separate them, as a beginner might be tempted to do : 

 any such attempt would only end in the destruction of the 

 specimen, or at any rate in the spoiling .of its appearance. 

 He has but to ' leave well alone,' to let the Alga remain as 

 it is until it is perfectly dry, and the stearine paper will 

 then spring off spontaneously, or in any case may be easily 

 separated without the least injury being done to the prepa- 

 ration. Even if small fragments of the paper should adhere 

 to the Alga when it is taken off, it is easy enough to re- 

 move them by simply touching them with a moistened hair 

 pencil, waiting a short time until the fragments are satu- 

 rated, and then scraping them gently with the sharp edge 

 of a penknife. The portions that have been wetted 

 quickly dry up, and the preparation has as neat an appear- 

 ance as before. 



A few species, especially those belonging to the genera 

 Schizonema and Ectocarpus, must not be placed under a 

 press at all. The fronds are too tender and too soft to bear 

 the weight of the superincumbent bricks. At the same 

 time, the reader will have gathered from the previous 

 remarks that drying in the open air has a tendency to 

 crumple the paper on which the Alga lies. But this diffi- 

 culty is to be got over by a little perseverance. As soon as 

 the plants are thoroughly dried, let the paper be dipped into 

 a basin of clean water, remaining there for a few seconds — in 

 fact, only until it is wetted through and bends with facility. 

 Take it out quickly, and having placed it between some 

 sheets of blotting paper (with the usual stearine cover on 

 the object), draw the hand backwards and forwards over the 

 pile until the previously wetted paper has discharged all its 

 moisture. In this way it will recover its smooth appearance 



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