1 OUTLINES OF BOTANY. 



plant besides perhaps some occasional protection against injurious atmo- 

 spheric influences, but the root-hairs (216) are active absorbents, the hairs 

 on styles and other parts of flowers appear often materially to assist the 

 transmission of pollen, and the exudations of glandular hairs (175, 2) are 

 often too copious not to exercise some influence on the phenomena of vege- 

 tation. The whole question, however, of vegetable exudations and their 

 influence on the economy of vegetable life, is as yet but imperfectly un- 

 derstood. 



Chap. IV. Collection", Preservation, and Determination op Plants. 



224. Plants can undoubtedly be most easily and satisfactorily examined 

 when freshly gathered. But time will rarely admit of this being done, and 

 it is moreover desirable to compare them with other plants previously ob- 

 served or collected. Specimens must, therefore, be selected for leisurely 

 observation at home, and preserved for future reference. A collection of 

 such specimens constitutes an Herbarium, 



225. A botanical Specimen, to be perfect, should have root, stem, 

 leaves, flowers (both open and in bud) and fruit (both young and mature). 

 It is not, however, always possible to gather such complete specimens, but 

 the collector should aim at completeness. Fragments, such as leaves without 

 flowers, or flowers without leaves, are of little or no use. 



226. If the plant is small (not exceeding 15 in.), or can be reduced to 

 that length by folding, the specimen should consist of the whole plant, in- 

 cluding the principal part of the root. If it be too large to preserve the 

 whole, a good flowering branch should be selected, with the foliage as low 

 down as can be gathered with it ; and one or two of the lower stem-leaves 

 or radical leaves, if any, should be added, so as to preserve as much as 

 possible of the peculiar aspect of the plant. 



227. The specimen should be taken from healthy uninjured plants of 

 a medium size. Or if a specimen be gathered because it looks a little dif- 

 ferent from the majority of those around it, apparently belonging to the 

 same species, a specimen of the more prevalent form should be taken from 

 the same locality for comparison. 



228. Por bringing the specimens home, a light portfolio of pasteboard, 

 covered with calico or leather, furnished with straps and buckles for closing, 

 and another for slinging on the shoulder, and containing a few sheets of 

 stout coarse paper, is better than the old-fashioned tin box (except, perhaps, 

 for stifT, prickly plants, and a few others). The specimens as gathered are 

 placed between the leaves of paper, and may be crowded together if not left 

 long without sorting. 



229. If the specimen brought home be not immediately determined when 

 fresh, but dried for future examination, a note should be taken of the time, 

 place, and situation in which it was gathered ; of the stature, habit, and 

 other particulars relating to any tree, shrub, or herb of which the specimen 

 is only a portion ; of the kind of root it has ; of the colour of the flower ; 

 or of any other particulars which the specimen itself cannot supply, or 

 which may be lost in the process of drying. These memoranda, whether 

 taken down in the field, or from the living specimen when brought home, 

 should be written on a label attached to the specimen or preserved with it 



