RIKER’S BOTANICAL MOUNT 
(Patented) 
|N NONE of the departments of Natural Science is the total inade¬ 
quacy of the present method of mounting and preserving specimens so 
keenly felt as in that of botany. The common practice of crushing the 
preparations between the leaves of a specimen press and then mounting 
them on the unprotected surface of a page in a herbarium, is tedious and 
altogether unsatisfactory. If the plant be of any consiedrable size the 
structure of its stem is crushed and broken past any semblance of its 
appearance in nature. If the leaves or flowers have any characteristic 
peculiar to the plant (such as a bell or funnel shape), which cannot be 
expressed in the two dimensions of a plane surface, the mounted 
prepararation does not fairly represent the appearance of these struc¬ 
tures in nature. In these respects the common mount is unscientific. An 
enthusiast in the study of nature might continue to make allowances for 
these deficiencies, but he cannot get away from the fact that specimens 
mounted in this way are in no respect perfect. 
The adaptability of our method for botanical purposes was suggested 
by the use of various food plants for insects in our Specimen Mount, and the 
Botanical Mount was the outcome. The Botanical Mount does not have the 
deep box back of the insect case, but is somewhat similar; it excludes 
the air and prevents dampness from effecting the specimens which causes 
the faded appearance and musty smell of ordinary herbariums. 
The Riker Botanical Mount consists of two 
parts. A thin plate of photographic glass 
to which narrow flaps of linen morocco 
paper are neatly fastened (Fig. 2) and a 
card-board back to which is glued a thin 
layer of sterilized surgical cotton in which 
the specimens are imbedded (Fig. 1). 
The Riker Botanical Mount has been de¬ 
signed to meet the needs of both ama¬ 
teur and professional collectors. By this 
method preparations may be made which 
will show all the parts of a plant in the same mount; natural colors are 
preserved and damage to the specimen is impossible so long as the 
glass remains intact. 
PRICE LIST OF RIKER’S BOTANICAL MOUNT 
Bound in White or Black 
5x6 with 
case, $1.50 per dozen or 
$0.14 each. 
6 1-2x8 1-2 
“ 2.15 “ “ “ 
.20 “ 
8x12 
“ 3.75 “ “ “ 
.33 “ 
. 
12x16 
“ 6.25 “ “ “ 
.55 “ 
SPESIAL SIZES MADE TO ORDER 
145 . 
For Sale by 
FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER CO., 
HYDE PARK, MASS. 
