A natuealist’s wokk-eoom. 
237 
a board similar to the bottom one, and loaded with 
large stones for weights. Every day these are 
shifted ; the upper board becoming in turn the foun- 
dation, fresh paper being supplied, on which the 
plants are laid one by one, as before, and the damp 
paper taken away. When the shifting is performed, 
this paper is spread out in the sun to dry, and laid in 
a heap to be used in turn to-morrow. The new 
plants are taken from the large portfolio in which 
they were placed when gathered, and added to those 
in the press ; while such specimens as are sufficiently 
dried are successively removed to the store-box. 
Perchance the curious visitor might see the 
naturalist himself busy with his insect-spoils ; im- 
mersing the beetles in boiling water, subjecting the 
Lepidoftera to the vapour of prussic acid, pinning 
them in the setting-boxes, and fastening down the 
wings of the butterflies with little braces of card-paper. 
Or he might be recording the facts observed in the 
morning’s tour, before their freshness had faded from 
the memory ; or taking sketches of forms and colours 
that death would destroy ; or occasionally glancing a 
master’s eye over the operations of the subordinates. 
But other than human tenants occupy this room. 
The visitor would see hanging against the wall a 
long low cage containing a dozen or so of the native 
Columhadce^ among which the noble Baldpate and 
gentle Peadove are conspicuous. Another large 
cage is inhabited by some of the more gaily coloured 
fruit-eating birds, as the Cashew-bird, the Blue Quit, 
&c., and in a gauze-fronted box on one of the tables 
are half a score Lizards of different species, crawling 
