ON THE SCIENCE OF BOTANY. 
235 
Grew, as he himself acknowledges, was led to the observations he has g-iven on this 
subject in his Anatomy of Plants, page 171, published in the year 1682. After 
this, Camararius, Moreland, Geotfroy, Vaillant, Blair, Jussieu, and Bradley, pursued 
their inquiries and experiments, so far as to remove all doubt concerning- these dis- 
coveries ; and lastly, though not least. Dr. Linnaeus, the professor of physic and 
botany at Upsal (a considerable town in Sweden, and noted fur its university), 
founded his immortal system. 
As it has justly been observed by the best writers, that every person who wishes 
to become a professed botanist should preserve and form into a collection the plants 
which he has examined ; therefore, it is our aim; before proceeding- with the science 
under consideration^ to offer a few instructions to the young- botanical researchers 
concerning the forming and arranging an Hortus Siccus (^Hortus, a garden ; Siccus y 
to dry. — Lat.) or Herbarium. 
The first thing required is a botanical press, made of two small boards of hard 
wood, about eighteen inches long, twelve inches broad, and two inches thick, with 
screws fixed to each corner by nuts. Next, some sheets of brown and unsized blot- 
ting paper must be provided for drying. The specimens must be gathered when 
quite dry ; and, if collected at a distance, they must be carefully carried home in a 
tin box, with their names affixed to them, to assist the memory. The specimens must 
be taken out of the box as soon as possible, and carefully spread on a sheet of brown 
paper, with the leaves and petals laid out regular, and another sheet of paper laid 
over them, and so on till the press is full ; then screw them down, increasing the 
pressure every day ; they must remain till quite dry, supplying them with dry paper 
daily. The best way for drying succulent and mucilaginous plants, such as 
Cactus, Epiphyllum, Cereus, Mdocactiis, &c., is with a hot smoothing iron, the 
specimens being placed between sheets of the blotting-paper, and ironed till they 
become sufficiently dry. 
When properly dried, the specimens should be arranged into genera, classes and 
orders (which will be hereafter explained), and fastened in a book, provided for the 
purpose, with small slips of green paper ; then at the base of the specimen should be 
written down the name of the genus and species, its native country, time of intro- 
duction (if of foreign produce), nature of the soil, colour of the flower, and time of 
flowering. 
