26 



13 inches wide, and 20 inches long will hold a good col- 

 lection, and if this ever should prove too small for the 

 number of specimens obtained, a second box of the same 

 dimensions will remedy the evil. The order of succession 

 m which the genera are placed in the box may be taken 

 from this volume, which will then serve as an index to the 

 herbarium. 



If it is considered desirable, a little camphor may be 

 kept with the specimens, but the best preservative will 

 be to look them all over, and thus allow the air to have 

 access to them, once in every six months. With such 

 precautions a collection may be preserved uninjured for 

 years, provided always that it is kept in a dry place — not 

 moderately, but thoroughly dry — or ^* mould " may injure 

 irremediably what insects have spared. 



A neat little collection of ferns, of smaller pretensions, 

 and less claims to be regarded in a scientific light, may be 

 arranged in a kind of album or scrap-book, with guards " 

 introduced by the binder sufficient to compensate for the 

 extra thickness caused by the insertion of the specimens. 

 A tinted paper is often used in the manufacture of these 

 books, which the good taste of a lady may transform into 

 a very interesting volume for the drawing-room table. 



