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“ a fire and dry with a brisk heat. No weights for pressing are neces- 
“ sary. As a general rule, the sand at the commencement of drying 
“ should not be allowed to attain a greater heat than can be borne by 
“ the hand, and this should be lessened as drying proceeds or the flowers 
“ may become scorched and rendered useless for purposes of dissection. 
“ Occasionally species {Dendrobium Pierardi Roxb., and Phajus 
“ alba Lindl.) are met with whose perianths will adhere to the paper ; 
“ the removal of the perianthcannotthen be effected without mutilation. 
“ This may be obviated by using porous drying-paper or blotting-paper 
“ instead of the thin kind recommended above. 
“The advantages of drying in hot sand as compared with the 
“ universally adopted method in paper are:— First, rapidity in pre- 
“ paring specimens ; plants belonging to such genera as Saccolabium, 
“ Vanda, Cleisostoma, etc., being ready within a week against a period of 
“ three to four months by the old method. Secondly ; when finished the 
“specimens will be found preserved in their entirety and will not fall 
“ to pieces. The column and lip will be found to have suffered little, 
‘ as the pressure of the sand is not sufficient to cause any material dam- 
“age to these organs”.—R. Pantling. 
The boxes that Mr. Pantling has found handiest for his purpose 
are old kerosine tins cut through lengthways ; one is placed within the 
other to give more strength to the tin wdth a rivet or two hammered 
through the seams as the solder runs when the boxes are over the fire. 
The only thing to be guarded against in the process is the adhesion of 
the flowers of certain species to the paper, and Mr. Pantling shows how 
this is easily overcome. 
The possibilities of this method either as recommended by Mr. 
Pantling or with slight modifications for the drying of succulent species 
generally, such as the Cactus family and fleshy members of the Spurge 
family, as well as for families like Scitaniine(X —the ginger famiiy-^and 
for water plants, where the flowers are very delicate and therefore very 
difficult to dry, seem considerable and the plan is well worth trying for 
them as well as for orchids. 
406 
