and sometimes get on fire when suspended in the presses over a 
fire, Pennell seourad his best results by suspending the presses, 
surrounded by a long cloth hood, over a charcoal fire. The hood 
acts as a chimney. It must be kept well away from fire. The heat 
is confined by the hood and passes up through the presses, thus 
hastening the drying process. Pipping the vegetative parts of 
orchids in boiling water to kill the tissues is very necessary. 
Pennell also recommends the use of smooth surfaced cotton batting 
laid on flowers to keep them from getting pressed toward. It often 
pays, when the stems are very thick, to have pieces of drier to 
lay on leaves and flowers so as to build up a pressing thickness. 
Otherwise the leaves frequently shrivel because they only get a 
part of the pressure. What I mean will be clear if I describe the 
method I adopt when pressing the flowers of Asters. To make the ray 
florets press flat I cut out of blotting paper a circular piece just 
the size of the protuberant centre, and place it over the"flower”. 
When pressure is applied the rays receive their share of it, be¬ 
cause the thickness of the blotting paper makes up for the extra 
thickness of the protuberant center. The blotting paper is cut in 
size so that it justftoovers the whole flower. 
I am now planning some contrivance to use in Honduras so that 
I can dry quantities of orchids quickly.lt seems to ma that one of 
those electric bed warming affairs migyt be utilizod in some way. 
If a heater, for example, could be inserted as a part of the drying 
pile, I think the time necessary to dry a batch of specimens might 
be much shortened. If you have electric current you can usually 
discover odd ways in which to utilize it. Put your problem before 
some of your electrical experts. 
