BOTANY. 



297 



bat the deliquescent ones, and those which are very thin and 

 delicate should be put into pickle almost immediately after 

 they are gathered. 



Pour some of the Pickle into a spare jar, and into thia 

 immerge the specimens to be preserved ; they should be suf- 

 fered to remain therein from three hours to three days, 

 according to their bulk and fleshiness ; then remove them 

 into separate jars, each suited to the size of the specimen ; 

 if they are large and juicy, fill up the jar with the Stronger 

 LIQUOR ; the Weaker will suffice for the smaller and weaker 

 plants; whichever liquor is used the jar must be quite filled 

 with it, and immediately corked tight 5 cover the cork and 

 top of the jar with venice turpentine, or with common oil 

 paint, and when this is dry, cover the top of the jar with a 

 piece of wetted bladder : these precautions are necessary to 

 prevent the access of air, and the evaporation of the liquor, 

 because if either of these happen, the specimens will soon 

 be spoiled. The Boleti are generally more difficult to pre- 

 serve than the Agarics, and such of either as abound with a 

 milky juice, are apt to foul the liquor, which must then be 

 changed. Mosses and Lichens may be preserved in great 

 perfection by this method of pickling, as likewise many 

 flowers of a thick, fleshy, or succulent nature, and most 

 kinds of soft fruits." Linnean Transactions^ vol. 2, p. 263. 



Dried collections of plants are particularly subject to the 

 attacks of insects, which often destroy valuable her- 

 bariums, to avert their attacks. Sir James Edward Smith, (in 

 a letter to Mr. C. Konig, inserted in Annals of Botany, vol. 

 2, p. 194,) recommends a solution of corrosive sublimate of 



