30 
HERBARIUM. 
the name of flower to these envelopes, which are often remarkable 
for the brilliancy of their colours, the elegance of their forms and 
the fragrance of their perfumes. 
Method of preserving Plants , and of preparing an Herbarium. 
Plants collected for analysis, may be preserved fresh many days, 
in a close tin box, by occasionally sprinkling them with water; they 
may also be preserved by placing their stems in water, but not as 
well by the latter, as the former method. While attending to the 
science of Botany, you should keep specimens of all the plants you 
can procure. An herbarium neatly arranged is beautiful, and may 
be rendered highly useful, by affording an opportunity to compare 
many species together, and it likewise serves to fix in the mind the 
characters of plants. It is a good method in collecting plants for an 
herbarium, to have a port-folio, or a book in which they may be 
placed before the parts begin to wilt. Specimens should be placed 
between the leaves of paper, either newspaper or any other kind 
which is of a loose texture, and will easily absorb the moisture of the 
plants ; a board with a weight upon it should then be placed upon 
the paper containing them; the plants should be taken out frequently 
at first; as often as once or twice a day, and the paper dried, or the 
plants placed between other dry sheets of paper. Small plants may 
- be dried between the leaves of a book. Plants differ in the length of 
time required for drying as they are more or less juicy ; some dry in 
a few days, others not sooner than two or three weeks. When the 
specimens are dry, and a sufficient number collected to commence 
an herbarium, a book should be procured, composed of blank paper, 
(white paper gives the plants a more showy appearance.) A quarto 
size is more convenient than a folio. Upon the first page of each leaf 
should be fastened one or more of the dried specimens, either with 
glue or by means of cutting through the paper, and raising up loops 
under which the stems may be placed. By the sides of the plants 
should be written the class , order , generic , and specific name; also 
the place where found, and the season of the year. The colours of 
plants frequently change in drying; the blue, pale red, and white, 
often turn black, or lose their colour; yellow, scarlet, violet, and 
green, are more durable. An herbarium should be carefully guard¬ 
ed against moisture and insects : as a security against the latter, the 
plants may be brushed over with corrosive-sublimate. 
Botanical Excursions. 
As a healthful and agreeable exercise, we would recommend fre¬ 
quent botanical excursions ; you will experience more pleasure from 
the science, by seeing the flowers in their own homes; a dry grove 
x of woods, the borders of little streams, the meadows, the pastures, 
and e ven the waysides, will afford you constant subjects for botanical 
observations. To the hardier sex, who can climb mountains, and 
penetrate marshes, many strange and interesting plants will present 
themselves, which cannot be found except in their peculiar situations; 
of these you must be content to obtain specimens, without seping 
them in their native wilds. You will, no doubt, easily obtain such 
specimens, for there is, usually, among the cultivators of natural sci¬ 
ence,. a generosity in affording assistance, and imparting to others 
the treasures which nature lavishes upon those who have a taste to 
enjoy them. 
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Method of preserving plants, and of preparing an herbarium—Botanical excur¬ 
sions. 
