186 
OF THE HERBARIUM. 
Herbarium (with his own name added). 
Fam., &c. 
Loc. 
Form. 
Leg. Date. 
Com. (or ex. Herb.) 
The labels had better be laid under the specimen, when 
the latter is not fastened down, as then they are not so 
easily lost at the opening of the wrapper ; at the same time 
the name should be left exposed, so as to avoid disturbing 
the plant, each time the name is required. Where the 
specimen is fixed down or kept in a paper bag, the label 
may be attached by means of gum arabic. 
To the young student it may appear the simplest plan to 
write the name, &c., at once on the paper on which the 
specimen lies, without the intervention of a label. But 
experience has proved that the latter plan is the most 
advantageous. In the first place, there is frequently no 
room on the half-sheet, a good-sized plant with its leaves 
and twigs occupying nearly the whole of its surface. Again, 
the plant may be wrongly named, for the beginner must natu- 
rally expect to make numerous mistakes in nomenclature. 
Now (supposing the name to be written on the paper 
itself), as soon as he discovers his error, either corrections 
must be made, giving the specimen an unsightly appearance, 
or else a new half-sheet must be introduced, an unnecessary 
waste ; whereas, in the case of the label, he has only to 
remove the old one and substitute a new one in its place. 
It is customary, when a specimen is received from another 
