CHAP. VI. 
OF HERBARIA. 
465 
distinct an idea of the individual as if a huge limb were before 
the botanist. It is this fact that enables us to form herbaria. 
Besides the dried twigs thus described, an herbarium should 
contain specimens of the wood of each species, and also a 
collection of fruits and seeds, which, being often large, hard, 
and incapable of compression, are not fit to be incorporated 
with the dried specimens themselves. 
In selecting specimens for drying, care must be taken that 
they exhibit the usual character of the species ; no imperfect 
or monstrous shoot should be made use of. If the leaves of 
different parts of the species vary, as is often the case in 
herbaceous plants, examples of both should be preserved. 
The twig should not be more woody than is unavoidable, 
because of its not lying compactly in the herbarium. If the 
flowers grow from a very large, woody part of the trunk, 
as is often the case, in some Malpighias, Cynometra, &c., 
then they should be preserved with a piece of the bark only 
adhering to them. It is also very important that ripe fruit 
should accompany the specimen. When the fruit is small, or 
thin, or capable of compression without injury, a second dried 
specimen may be added to that exhibiting the flowers ; but 
when it is large and woody, it must be preserved separately, 
in a manner I shall presently describe. 
Next to a judicious selection of specimens, it is important 
to dry them in the best manner. For this purpose various 
methods have been proposed : some of the simplest and most 
practicable may be mentioned. If you are in a country where 
there is a great deal of sun-heat, it is an excellent plan to 
place your specimen between the leaves of a sheet of paper, 
and simply to pour as much sand or dried earth over it as 
will press every part flat, and then to leave it in the full sun- 
shine. A few hours are often sufficient to dry a specimen 
thoroughly in this manner. But in travelling, when con- 
veniences of this kind cannot be had, and in wild uninhabited 
regions, it is better to have two or more pasteboards of the 
size of the paper in which your specimens are dried, and some 
stout cord or leathern straps. Having gathered specimens 
until you are apprehensive of their shrivelling, fill each sheet 
of paper with as many as it will contain ; and having thus 
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