AND PRESERVING PLANTS. 
119 
Specimens of the woods of from 6 to 8 inches in length, the 
entire round of the trunk or branch of small, and segments from 
centre to circumference of .the larger kinds, in both cases with the 
bark, should also be preserved — -not only of the more remarkable 
trees, but also of the woody climbers, which often exhibit peculiarities 
of structure highly interesting to the botanist. When specimens of 
woods are preserved, they should be marked with numbers corre- 
sponding with the flowering branches of the tree in the collection of 
specimens ; and when flowers cannot be obtained, a small branch 
with leaves or fruits should always be taken. 
Gums, resins, and other remarkable products should also be 
collected, their uses if known noted, and reference made by numbers 
to the plants they belong to. 
Charace^e. 
The most generally convenient method of collecting Characeae is 
by means of a drag and line. The drag consists of a bulb of lead 
about from \ to 1 lb. in weight, with three or more hooks of strong 
galvanized iron wire. . The drags with three hooks used by anglers 
for fishing up lines answer the purpose well. The line should be of 
stout water-cord about \ inch thick, and twenty yards will generally 
be found sufficient. Large pieces of water can be much more 
satisfactorily explored for Characese by means of a boat than from 
the shore, the plants being often confined to a particular part or 
depth of the lake or pond. In small or shallow pieces of water it is 
desirable to collect specimens with a walking-stick, or, better still, by 
hand, as by these means whole plants with the roots can be obtained, 
while a drag is apt to break up the more brittle species. 
Care should be taken in the case of the dioecious species to collect 
both sexes, and collectors should not content themselves with getting 
those specimens only which grow at the margin of a pond or other 
piece of water, these being often small and stunted and sometimes 
sterile. Most of the Characese fruit in the summer ; but a few arrive 
at maturity in tne spring. 
It is undesirable to carry the specimens loose in the vasculum. If 
put as straight as possible when collected, and spread in a thin layer 
