BOTANICAL  AND  PHARMACOLOGICAL  INQUIRIES.  51 
of  a  vessel  so  as  to  be  exposed  to  the  light,  which  is  an  indis- 
pensable requisite,  will  require  no  watering  nor  any  attention 
(unless  the  glass  happens  to  be  broken)  during  the  entire  voyage. 
On  Preserving  Plants  for  the  Herbarium. 
This  is  by  no  means  the  difficult  process  which  many  have 
imagined.  The  object  is  to  prepare  the  specimens  in  such  a 
manner  that  their  moisture  may  be  quickly  absorbed,  the  colors, 
so  far  as  possible,  preserved,  and  such  a  degree  of  pressure  im- 
parted that  they  may  not  shrivel  in  drying. 
For  these  purposes  provide  a  quantity  of  paper  of  moderate 
folio  size  and  rather  absorbent  quality — brown  or  stout  grey 
paper  answers  the  purpose  exceedingly  well.  An  excellent  kind, 
when  not  to  be  used  in  a  hot  and  moist  country,  is  BentalVs 
botanical  paper,  16  inches  by  10,  which  costs  (folded)  15s.  a 
ream  ;  or  of  larger  size,  namely,  20  inches  by  12,  21s.  per  ream. 
It  is  sold  by  Newman,  No.  9,  Devonshire  Street,  Bishopsgate 
Street,  London.  In  a  hot  and  moist  region,  brown  paper  may 
be  employed  with  advantage.  Two  boards  are  requisite,  of  the 
same  size  as  the  paper,  or  a  trifle  larger,  one  for  the  top,  the 
other  for  the  bottom  of  the  mass  of  papers.  Some  pieces  of 
millboard  placed  between  the  specimens,  if  these  are  numerous 
or  particularly  thick  and  woody,  are  very  useful.  For  pressure 
nothing  is  better  than  a  heavy  weight  on  the  topmost  board,  or, 
while  travelling,  three  leathern  straps  and  buckles,  two  to  bind 
the  boards  transversely,  and  one  longitudinally.  Thus  provided, 
gather  your  specimens,  if  the  plant  be  small,  root  and  stem ;  if 
large,  take  off  portions  of  the  branches,  a  foot  or  rather  more 
in  length,  always  selecting  those  which  are  slender  and  in  flower, 
or  in  a  more  or  less  advanced  state  of  fruit.  Long  slender 
plants,  as  grasses,  sedges,  and  many  ferns,  may  be  doubled  once 
or  twice.  Place  them,  as  quickly  after  being  gathered  as  you 
can,  side  by  side,  but  never  one  upon  the  other,  on  the  same 
sheet  of  paper,  taking  care  that  one  part  of  the  bundle  be  not 
materially  thicker  than  the  other  ;  and  lay  over  the  specimens 
one,  two,  three,  or  more  sheets  of  paper,  according  to  the  thick- 
ness of  your  paper,  and  of  your  plants  ;  and  so  on,  layer  above 
layer  of  paper  and  specimens,  and  subject  the  whole  to  pressure. 
In  a  day  or  two,  according  to  the  more  or  less  succulent  nature 
