( 7 ) 
if one is collecting in the cold season or in the hot weather, the very 
best way to dry delicate plants is to take a bundle or two of drying 
paper to the field and lay the plants between their sheets as gathered. 
Some very succulent plants and others with fine but rigid leaves, 
like pines, require to be plunged for an instant into boiling water ere 
they are pressed. In this case the superabundant moisture must be 
absorbed by a cloth or by blotting paper. Orchids should be placed 
in strong spirit before they are laid in the drying paper : they are best 
placed in spirit at the close of the day and taken out at the close of 
the day following when specimens are being changed. But care must 
be taken, while seeing that the pseudo-bulbs and leaves are covered 
completely by the spirit, to see also that the flowers protrude above 
its surface. Ferns, mosses and other cryptogamous plants may be 
generally dried in the common way ; those that grow in tufts should 
be separated by the hand to form neat specimens. Seaweeds require 
a slight washing in fresh water, and common blotting paper is the best 
material for removing the moisture from this tribe of plants. Fresh¬ 
water plants, besides being preserved by drying in the ordinary way, 
are often, like soft fruits, best preserved in spirit. Strong spirit should 
not be used however, as it renders the specimen brittle ; the most 
convenient strength is 50 per cent, i.e., half of pure spirit and half of 
water. The mixture should be made as required, but time should be 
given it to cool before immersing the specimen. 
Thereare two methods of makingnotes concerning specimens. One* 
is to note the particulars concerning each on a separate page of a num¬ 
bered note-book and to attach a slip of paper bearing the nitmberoi the 
note to the specimen. The other is to attach the slip of paper on which 
the note is written to the specimen to which the note refers. Each 
method has conveniences of its ov/n, and for collectors who form a 
private harbarium the first has not a few advantages ; on the whole, 
however, the second method is the one that will in the long run be pre¬ 
ferred by most. But both plans to be of any value call for this : any 
particulars to be noted should be written day by day and placed beside 
the specimens when they are first laid out in drying paper. If written up 
and attached afterwards mistakes are certain to occur. The particulars 
most worth noting are (in order of importance)—date when gathered 
and locality; height above sea-level of the latter ; colour of flower 
and fruit; habit and, when a plant is cultivated, this fact; also habitat. 
The drying paper should be changed afterthe specimens have lain 
in it for a day, after that when they have lain in the fresh dry paper 
for three days, after that once or twice at longer intervals. It will 
then be found that the specimens are dry. The moist paper removed 
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