OF COLLECTING AND PRESERVING PLANTS. 



of inquiry and comparison. For the assistance of the learner, 

 therefore, and for the convenience of all, I have added a full 

 series o£ Analytical Tables, in which the genera described in 

 this work arc arranged under the Classes and Orders of tho 

 Linnaean Artificial System. 



OF COLLECTING- AND PRESERVING PLANTS. 



6. _ Students in botany § should give an early and per- 

 severing attention to the collection and preservation of as 

 many species of plants as they can procure. The advantages 

 to be derived from such collections are great, and will afford 

 .an abundant compensation for all the labor required, either 

 in refreshing the memory by reviewing them, or in institu- 

 ting a more thorough examination at one's leisure. 



7. Such a collection of specimens of plants, preserved 

 by drying under pressure between folds of paper, is termed 

 a Herbarium, or by the more significant title Hortus /Siccus 

 (dry garden). 



8. A complete specimen consists of one or more shoots, 

 bearing the leaves, flowers, and fruit, and in some cases, as in 

 herbaceous plants, a portion of the root should also be preserved. 



9. Specimens intended for the herbarium, should be 

 gathered, if possible, in a dry day, and carried either in a 

 close tin box, about 20 inches long and 3 or 4 in diameter, 

 or in a strong portfolio, containing a quire or more of firm 

 paper, with a few sheets of blotting paper to receive the 

 delicate plants. They must be dried under a strong pres- 

 sure, but not so as to crush the parts, between dryers com- 

 posed of 6 to 10 thicknesses of paper, that will absorb 

 moisture, which should be changed once or twice a day, un- 

 til all the moisture is extracted from the plants — a period 

 which varies from 3 to 10 days. All delicate specimens 

 should be laid in folded sheets of thin and smooth bibulous 

 paper, and placed between the dryers, and so transferred en- 

 tire, from time to time without being disturbed, until per- 

 fectly dry. 



10. Many plants prepared by the above method, will in 

 most instances retain their colors almost as perfect as when 

 first gathered, yet some plants, especially those of the en- 

 dogenous structure, such as the Narcissus, Iris, &c, are 

 very hard to dry so as to retain their coloring. I have 

 found the following method to answer a very good purpose : 



