7o A US TRALIAN B TANY. 



SIMPLE DIRECTIONS FOR THE COLLECTION 

 AND PRESERVATION OF SPECIMEN PLANTS. 



Without entering upon such elaborate details as might 

 be necessary for the instruction of an advanced student 

 desirous of undertaking a botanical excursion, it may not 

 be out of place to append a few plain directions, by which 

 the beginner can collect ordinary specimens of plants for 

 examination and preservation. 



A taste for plant-collecting, once formed, grows insensibly; 

 and those who commence by selecting a few desultory 

 specimens, are very likely to end by possessing a fair collec- 

 tion. Nothing more advantageous to the dissemination of 

 botanical principles could be devised, than such a method 

 of rendering the study of the science an object of active 

 enterprise. Interest is at once enlisted ; the preparation 

 and drying of specimens attract the attention of the family 

 circle ; a healthy spirit of emulation is often aroused in the 

 acquirement of rival collections ; and thus the circle of 

 information becomes widened. 



The subjoined directions are intended for those who, 

 having studied the foregoing lessons, may feel desirous of 

 examining such plants therein mentioned as may be pro- 

 curable. 



Collecting. — First, as to collecting. It would of course 

 be easy to point out the most suitable paraphernalia for 



