162 OF THE FERNS AND FLOWERING PLANTS. 



room. Four or five sheets having been laid on one another, 

 a thread is passed through them on the folded side, some 

 two inches from the border ; and then the two ends of the 

 thread are tied together so as to leave a loop sufficiently 

 large to admit of a longish rod or stick being passed through 

 it. In this way packet after packet of damp paper is 

 loosely fastened on the stick, and the latter is suspended 

 horizontally in any convenient place, where there is 

 current of air — between the rafters of an out-house — across 

 two chairs near a large fire — or, weather permitting, in the 

 open air, where it will catch the rays of the sun. A few 

 rods fitted up after this plan will allow of an immense 

 number of sheets being dried at the same "time. From the 

 loose papers having both their sides acted on by the 

 draught, they give up their moisture more quickly than if 

 laid on the ground, and are not liable to be blown about by 

 gusts of wind. The business of sewdng the paper together 

 is considerably lightened, if the end of a ball of thread is 

 drawn, by means of a packing needle, through a great 

 number of sheets at once, the thread being afterwards 

 divided in lengths sufficient to bind up the packets as 

 previously described. This saves the time, which would 

 otherwise be w r asted if the thread w r ere cut into the required 

 lengths before being passed through the packets. 



As soon as the plants are freed from the moisture on 

 their surface, and the paper has been distributed into con- 

 venient parcels of five or six sheets, the process of drying 

 may be proceeded with by making alternate layers of 

 packets and specimens until a height of some two feet has 

 been reached. Next let the whole pile be placed between 

 two smooth boards of the same size as the paper, and 

 weighted with bricks, as previously recommended. Great 

 attention must be paid to the degree of pressure laid on ; 

 if it be too severe the specimens will be squeezed out of all 

 shape, whereas, if too light, the leaves, petals, and other 

 tender parts will be shrivelled and wrinkled. It is a point 

 on which experience and common sense must be brought to 



