METHOD OF CARRIAGE. 15 
was I to carry tliem about for two or three months 
in any quantities ? I hit upon the following plan, 
which answers so completely, that I think I may 
say I have hardly lost one specimen since I 
adopted it, and I have brought Ferns from the 
very heart of the Pyrenees. 
I provided myself with a large tin box with 
padlock and ke^^, and three or four yards of com- 
mon brown calico. As I found the Ferns I 
wrapped them up in bits of calico with a little 
earth and drainage at the bottom, sewing them 
tight, like little mummies, leaving only the fronds 
and stalks uncovered. In this way the tin box 
held large quantities. At the inns I simply 
unlocked the box, and once in every few days 
sprinlded them with water. I have carried them 
in this way for two or three months. They are 
not half the trouble of a new bonnet, for they 
come out at the end of the journey as fresh as 
when they started, which I grieve to say a bonnet 
never does. 
Our first halting place was Edinburgh, and 
