THE PLANTS TO BE PERFECTLY CLEANED. 17 



should be placed together in the same bottle ; and, fur- 

 ther, when laid out, in the manner hereafter to be 

 described, fresh water must never be used. If allowed 

 to come in contact with fresh water, even for a very 

 short time, it has the effect of causing the fine and 

 delicate ramuli to become clotted together ; these it is 

 afterwards impossible to separate ; and the appearance 

 of the specimen is consequently very much injured, if 

 not altogether spoiled. 



Let us now suppose we have reached home, with the 

 various plants collected ; and, being furnished with a 

 sufficient supply of sea-water, the first step to be taken 

 is to examine each one separately, and carefully remove 

 every particle of extraneous matter that may be at- 

 tached. These foreign bodies are more easily detected 

 by placing the specimen in a flat, white dish filled with 

 salt water, remembering that the Calithamnia, and 

 other delicate varieties, require to be first attended to ; 

 for, notwithstanding the pains we may have taken to 

 clean our specimens beforehand, we shall often find, 

 when they are fairly spread out, that there are still some 

 minute particles adhering to them. 



These are effectually removed with a pair of dissect- 

 ing-forceps, which are always to be procured of any 

 surgical -instrument maker, and are, indeed, almost 

 indispensable in laying out marine Algae. They will, 

 besides, be found most useful for various purposes 



c 



