STUDY OF BOTANY 
37 
of this paper, and that the plants must be changed into 
dry papers at least three times—first after twenty-four hours’ 
pressure, then after two or three days more, and again after 
a week. Or they may be laid in the drying papers in a tin 
dish just large enough to hold them, dry sand spread on the 
top an inch thick, and placed on a warm stove or in an oven 
of moderate heat. They will want careful watching so as not 
to bake too rapidly, but with proper attention they may be 
got perfectly dry in one or two days, or even in a few hours, 
by this method, and will keep their colour better than if dried 
more slowly. The mounting paper should be about lG^ins. 
by lOJins., and the specimens fastened on by strips of 
gummed paper, using only just as many as will hold all parts 
firmly to the paper, and cutting them broad enough to give a 
firm adhesion. They are often used too narrow. Some 
persons glue the whole specimen to the paper, and in 
Herbariums subject to continual turning over, as in public 
museums, this is the safest ; but in private collections it is, I 
think, unnecessary and undesirable, as it takes more time, 
gives a more unnatural appearance, and prevents the specimen 
from being changed or in any way moved for examination. 
The species of each genus should be put together in a sheet 
of coloured paper, labelled outside, and the packets properly 
arranged in a cabinet, or in a set of boxes made to stand up 
like large books on a shelf. 
For determining the names and characters of British 
plants there are several good works. The most costly of 
these is Sowerby’s “English Botany,” of which the third 
edition consists of eleven volumes, with a twelfth now in 
preparation, price about £20, giving a coloured plate of every 
species. This is excellent as a help and for additional infor¬ 
mation, but it is not good to work by, having no synopsis 
or key of any kind. I should recommend for beginners 
Bentbam’s “Illustrated Handbook of the British Flora,” in 
two volumes, with admirable woodcuts of each species. 
When they have acquired some knowledge of common plants 
Hooker’s “ Student’s Flora,” price 9s., will be better, as 
although without plates or woodcuts it is very compact, very full 
and clear, and contains most of the modern seggregates, or dis¬ 
tinct varieties of certain species, which are omitted by Bentham 
for the sake of simplicity. Babington’s “ Manual ” is nearly 
as good as Hooker and about the same price. Anne Pratt’s 
large work with coloured plates is useful for reference and for 
popular information about the history and qualities of plants, 
but is not precise enough in its descriptions nor accurate 
enough in its plates for the real student. Leo Grindon’s 
