24 



METHOD OF LAYING OUT 



employed until the plants are thoroughly dry, which, 

 after the second change of papers, need not be renewed 

 oftener than once in every twelve hours. When the 

 plants are supposed to be dry, which, if properly attend- 

 ed to, generally occurs, except in some of the coarser 

 species, in about three or four days, the pieces of 

 calico are to be removed ; this must be done very 

 carefully, as it sometimes happens that portions of the 

 plants will be found adhering to them.* After this is 

 done, I usually complete the process by placing the 

 specimens once more between layers of the drying-paper, 

 and immediately submit them to a heavy pressure, for 

 several days. Plants so treated never become damp or 

 mouldy. 



Before removing them to the herbarium, the name 

 of the plant, and the place of its growth (or wherever it 

 may have been found), as well as the day of the month 

 and year, should always be written, in pencil, on the back 

 of the specimen, which will be a guide to the collector, 

 and enable him, when in want of such species at any 

 future time, to know where to find them, although it 

 occasionally happens that some plants are somewhat 



* Should this occur, and it be found difficult to remove 

 them from the calico, it is better to allow them to dry 

 thoroughly, trusting to after removal, than to tear them 

 away in a half-dried state, which would probably destroy 

 the specimen. 



