XXX11 
OUTLINES OF 
226. If the plant is small (not exceeding 15 in.) or can be reduced to that length 
by folding, the specimen should consist of the whole plant, including the principal 
part of the root. If it be too large to preserve the whole, a good flowering branch 
should be selected, with the foliage as low down as can be gathered with it ; and 
one or two of the lower stem-leaves or radical leaves, if any, should be added, so as 
to preserve as much as possible of the peculiar aspect of the plant. 
227. The specimens should be taken from healthy uninjured plants of a medium 
size. Or if a specimen be gathered because it looks a little different from the 
majority of those around it, apparently belonging to the same species, a specimen 
of the more prevalent form should be taken from the same locality for comparison. 
228. For bringing the specimens home, a light portfolio of pasteboard, covered 
with calico or leather, furnished with straps and buckles for closing, and another 
for slinging on the shoulder, and containing a few sheets of stout coarse paper, is 
better than the old-fashioned tin box (except, perhaps, for stiff prickly plants and 
a few others). The specimens as gathered are placed between the leaves of paper, 
and may be crowded together if not left long without sorting. 
229. If the specimen brought home be not immediately determined when fresh, 
but dried for future examination, a note should be taken of the time, place, and 
situation in which it was gathered ; of the stature, habit, and other particulars relat- 
ing to any tree, shrub, or herb of which the specimen is only a portion ; of the 
kind of root it has ; of the colour of the flower ; or of any other particulars which 
the specimen itself cannot supply, or which may be lost in the process of drying. 
These memoranda, whether taken down in the field, or from the living specimen 
when brought home, should be written on a label attached to the specimen or pre- 
served with it. 
230. To dry specimens, they are laid flat between several sheets of bibulous 
paper, and subjected to pressure. The paper is subsequently changed at intervals, 
until they are dry. 
231. In laying out the specimen, care should be taken to preserve the natural 
position of the parts as far as consistent with the laying flat. In general, if the 
specimen is fresh and not very slender, it may be simply laid on the lower sheet, 
holding it by the stalk and drawing it slightly downwards ; then, as the upper 
sheet is laid over, if it be slightly drawn downwards as it is pressed down, it will 
be found, after a few trials, that the specimen will have retained a natural form 
with very little trouble. If the specimen has been gathered long enough to have 
become flaccid, it will require more care in laying the leaves flat and giving the parts 
their proper direction. Specimens kept in tin boxes will also often have taken 
unnatural bends, which will require to be corrected. 
232. If the specimen is very bushy, some branches must be thinned out, but 
always so as to show where they have been. If any part, such as the head of a 
thistle, the stem of an Orobanche , or the bulb of a Lily, be very thick, a portion of 
what is to be the under side of the specimen may be sliced off. Some thick spe- 
cimens may be split from top to bottom before drying. 
233. If the specimen be succulent or tenacious of life, such as a Sedum or an 
Orchis , it may be dipped in boiling water all but the flowers. This will kill the plant 
at once, and enable it to be dried rapidly, losing less of its colour or foliage than 
would otherwise be the case. Dipping in boiling water is also useful in the case 
of Heaths and other plants which are apt to shed their leaves during the process of 
drying. 
234. Plants with very delicate corollas may be placed between single leaves of 
very thin unglazed tissue-paper. In shifting these plants into dry paper the tissue- 
paper is not to be removed, but lifted with its contents on to the dry paper. 
235. The number of sheets of paper to be placed between each specimen or sheet 
of specimens, will depend, on the one hand, on the thickness and humidity of the 
specimens ; on the other hand, on the quantity and quality of the paper one has at 
command. The more and the better the paper, the less frequently will it be neces- 
sary to change it, and the sooner the plants will dry. The paper ought to be coarse, 
stout, and unsized. Common blotting-paper is much too tender. 
236. Care must be taken that the paper used is well dried. If it be likewise hot, 
