Preserving and Preparing Plants, 



In a former part of the work we have spoken of the conver- 

 sion of garden flowers into monsters, or their having parts 

 unnaturally changed and developed. It is on this account that 

 cultivated flowers should always be avoided by the student. 

 Two advantages are gained by this ; one, having the proper 

 specimens, which must be picked wild, and the other the exer- 

 cise afforded by their pursuit. A gentleman of this city who 

 understands as much of the science of Botany as perhaps any 

 man in it, informed us sometime since, that he gave up the 

 study of Chemistry, in which he had made considerable 

 advances, for that of Botany, on account, solely, of health. 

 We cannot conceive of a more pleasant excursion than that of 

 collecting plants, affording as it does, for the majority of persons, 

 just enough of exercise to make it exciting, while the mind is 

 constantly interested and instructed. 



The student should remember to gather at least two good 

 specimens; one for dissection, and the other for preservation. 

 A year's file of any of our daily papers will afford the best 

 possible apparatus for drying them. Place the specimens be- 

 tween the sheets, laying on top of the whole a board with a 

 weight ; an occasional airing of the whole will be sufficient. 

 The time occupied will vary, according to the juiciness of the 

 plant, from two days to three weeks. When well dried, trans- 

 fer them to the leaves of a large blank book of white paper, 

 prepared for the purpose, of a proper size. Write on each 

 page with the plant, its artificial class and order, and generic 

 and specific distinctions, and natural order ; the place where 

 found, and season of the year in which it flowers. We will 

 suppose it to be the Dandelion. 



Dandelion — Leontodon Taraxicum, or more modern, 

 Taraxacum Dens-Leonis. Class, Syngenesia ; order, Po- 

 lygamia jEqualis. Natural order, composita?. Generic char- 

 acters : — calyx, imbricate with loose scales. Down, capillary ; 

 receptacle naked, dotted. 



Specific characters : — lower calcynine, scales reflex ; leaves 

 ruminate, toothlets even. Blossoms all the year except winter : 

 found in August. Flowers, golden yellow color ; height six 

 inches. And any other remarks that would prove interesting. 

 In fastening them to the sheet, some cut the paper into loops, 

 others use glue, and a third, and we think rightly, prefer to 

 sew them on with a fine needle and thread. To guard against 

 moisture and insects, wash the whole over with a solution of 

 corrosive sublimate. 



