98 
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
relatively bulky collecting apparatus. The poison-bottle must be small 
enough to go into the waistcoat pocket, and the traveller should be pro¬ 
vided with a number of little “ self-opening ” tin boxes, ready filled with 
sawdust, and a particle of naphtlialin. . Each box should be reserved for 
the insects found on one day, or in one locality, and duly labelled outside 
and inside. It is impossible in the narrow limits of a mountaineer’s tent, 
and with the little time at his disposal, to pack insects in layers in a 
larger box, or to make any of the arrangements which a professed 
naturalist is accustomed to. 
Botanical Collecting. By the late J. Ball, f.k.s. —■ To obtain good 
specimens of dried plants in a condition serviceable to scientific men, the 
following are the chief points to be observed:—■ 
1. Selection of Specimens .—The object is to give as much information 
as possible respecting the plant which it is intended to collect. Small 
plants not exceeding 16 inches in height should be collected entire with 
the roots . Slender plants of greater dimensions may be folded to the 
same length, and may often be collected entire. Of larger plants, shrubs 
and trees, the object is to show as much as possible of the plant within 
the limit of the size of your drying paper. As an universal rule, both 
the flower and fruit (seed-vessel) should, if possible, be preserved. Of 
those plants whereon the male and female flowers grow separately, 
specimens of both should, if possible, be collected. 
2. Conveyance of Specimens to Camp or Station. —Tin boxes made for the 
purpose are generally used in Europe for carrying botanical specimens 
until they can be placed in the drying press. They answer sufficiently 
well in cool weather, but in hot countries specimens are often partly 
withered before they can be laid out; and a rough portfolio, into which 
the plants can be put when (or soon after) they are gathered, is much to 
be preferred. 
Such a portfolio is easily prepared with two sheets of millboard con¬ 
nected by an endless tape, so as to be easily slung over the shoulder; 
between these about thirty or forty sheets (60 to 80 folds) of thin soft 
(more or less bibulous) paper may be carried and kept in place by a strap 
or piece of twine. With two such portfolios a traveller can carry as many 
plants as it is possible to collect with advantage in a day. As soon as 
possible after being gathered, the specimens should be laid roughly 
between the sheets of paper: except in the case of delicate flowers, no 
