580 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES. 
New Method for Preserving Succulent Fruit, Fungi, &c.* — Herr 
H. Behrens recommends the following process for preserving botanical 
specimens so that they shall retain their natural form and colour, &c. 
The plants are air-dried, and dipped in a warm 5 per cent, gelatin 
solution. In case the gelatin should not adhere, the object is first 
immersed in 70 per cent, alcohol, and then in the gelatin solution. 
After the layer of gelatin has cooled, the object is dipped into a 
mixture of 20 parts of the 40 per cent, commercial formic aldehyde 
and 90 parts of water. By this means an insoluble layer of gelatin is 
obtained, and at the same time all fermenting organisms, .bacteria, &c., 
are destroyed, and ’the plants (fungi and fruit) arc preserved in their 
natural form and colour. 
* Zeitschr. f. ang. Mikr., ii. (1896) pp. 36-7. 
