IN SPKEADING THE PLANTS. 



Everything being now in readiness, you take each 

 specimen separately out of the sea-water, where it must 

 always remain until wanted ; and, taking care it is per- 

 fectly clean, place it in the dish of fresh water before 

 alluded to. Having selected a piece of paper, cut to 

 the dimensions corresponding with the size of the 

 plant, taking care to leave space enough for a clear 

 margin of three quarters of an inch from the edge of 

 the paper, you place it in the palm of your left hand, 

 and at once insert it under the plant floating in the 

 water ; then, with the fingers of the other hand, assisted 

 by the points of the closed forceps before mentioned, 

 you proceed to separate the branches, and neatly arrange 

 the specimen, endeavouring to preserve its natural ap- 

 pearance, and character of growth, as much as possible. 

 Although some persons use a probe, or pointer, as well 

 as a camel's-hair pencil, to display their specimens, I 

 find the forceps alone sufficient. It often happens that 

 there is occasion to remove one or more superfluous 



between sheets of Bentall's botanical drying-paper, and not 

 submitted to any pressure, observing to make a memoran- 

 dum of the exact locality where they were gathered. 



It is very much better, when drying Algae in this rough 

 manner, not to wash them in fresh water, because the salt 

 they contain serves to keep them in a pliable state, and 

 causes them to imbibe water more readily on re-immersion. 



