OF THE FILAMENTOUS ALGAL 
69 
white blotting or printing paper. Cover this with a second 
sheet, which is to be also strewn with stearine chips ; and 
so on, until five or six alternate layers of stearine and paper 
have been deposited. Next, let a hot iron be passed over 
the whole ; the stearine melts, and, forcing its way among 
the fibres, renders the paper partially water-tight. No 
attempt must be made to separate the sheets until the 
stearine is cold and hard, otherwise they will cling together 
and be spoilt. 
Where it is requisite to prepare large quantities of the 
paper at one operation, the heap, instead of being ironed 
by hand, may be placed on a tin plate in the oven, or imme- 
diately in front of the fire. 
After being used for some time, the stearine paper 
(especially if the Algse with which it comes in contact are 
wet and succulent) becomes more or less opaque, and the 
plants are apt to cling to it. When this is seen to be the 
case, all that is necessary is to pass a hot iron over it, and 
the sheet is restored to its former condition.* 
In preparing this class of Alga* for the herbarium, no 
special attention need be paid to peculiarities in the growth 
of such as are found in thick heavy masses. On the other 
hand, the habit of those which grow in long flowing tresses 
must be carefully observed and retained. These last 
represent, to a certain extent, the higher plants, from the 
root to the apex, and must be treated accordingly. Care 
must be taken, as I mentioned just now, to get a specimen 
direct from its point of attachment to the stones or other 
object on which it had passed its existence, and to carry 
it home without bending or entangling its filaments. If 
this precaution has been attended to, the tiny branches, on 
^ * The Rev. D. Landsborough, in his ‘Popular History of British 
■Seaweeds, recommends a fold of muslin to be laid over the specimen. 
He adds, however, ‘ In shifting the specimens the second time, the 
muslin coverings may be removed. When permitted to remain till 
the plants are quite dry, there is danger of their leaving chequered 
impressions on the specimens.’ — Ed. 
