12 
wind is blowing, or elusive cyclonic currents are moving 
in a body of quiet air, it is something of an achievement 
in the open to keep the papers under control and put 
in one’s specimens with skill and a serene mind, A 
very large quantity of material may be gathered by 
this method on a day’s journey in the open. 
As soon as a specimen is placed in press the sheet 
is numbered and against a corresponding number in 
the field book is written the name of the plant, its 
degree of abundance, its associates, the soil, exposure, 
and altitude. Wordsworth aptly said that a few notes 
made on the spot are worth a cart-load of memory. 
This remark of a poet may well be remembered by the 
field botanist. Facts concerning the habit of the plant 
and its height, variation and other matters form an 
invaluable part of the field record. 
Upon returning from the field the sheets are placed 
between driers, blotters or newspapers and put under 
a board, with a weight, to dry. The folded sheets with 
their plants are left undisturbed but the driers should 
be changed twice a day the first two days, and after 
that once a day until dry. On placing the sheets be- 
tween the driers it is well the first day to open the 
sheets and correct the arrangement of the branches or 
spread out folded leaves or flowers. A weight of 
eight or ten pounds is usually sufficient. Care should 
be taken not to use too heavy a weight ; otherwise, 
delicate parts may be crushed or destroyed. The object 
is to get the water out of the plant as quickly as pos- 
sible. For this purpose corrugated paste-boards as 
driers are more recently coming into use and greatly 
facilitate drying. If properly cured, the systematist 
and even the histologist finds it possible to restore the 
organs to their original form or essentially so and pre- 
pare them for microscopic examination. 
Well prepared bright-looking specimens with ample 
data constitute an important record of the plant popu- 
lation of a district. If well mounted and cared for they 
are good for centuries. Such specimens when accom- 
panied by complete data are useful to the morphologist, 
physiologist, ecologist and plant geographer, and are 
of course an important part of the working equipment 
of the systematist.- — W. L. Jepson. 
