52  BOTANICAL  AND  PHARMACOLOGICAL  INQUIRIES. 
of  the  plants  and  the  heat  and  dryness  of  the  climate,  remove 
into  fresh  papers,  twice  or  oftener,  till  the  moisture  be  absorbed, 
and  dry  the  spare  papers  in  the  sun  or  by  a  fire  for  future  use. 
If  the  specimens  cannot  be  laid  down  as  soon  as  gathered, 
they  should  be  deposited  in  a  tin  box,  which  indeed  is  essential 
to  the  botanist  when  travelling  ;  there  they  will  remain  uninjured 
for  a  day  and  night,  supposing  the  box  to  be  well  filled  and  se- 
curely closed  to  prevent  evaporation.  Some  very  succulent 
plants,  and  others  with  fine  but  rigid  leaves — the  heath  and 
pine  tribe,  for  example — require  to  be  plunged  for  an  instant 
into  boiling  water  ere  they  are  pressed.  In  this  case  the  super- 
abundant moisture  must  be  absorbed  by  a  cloth  or  by  blotting- 
paper. 
When  sufficiently  dry  the  specimens  should  be  put  into  dry 
papers,  one  sheet  or  folio  between  each  ;  except  they  be  unusual- 
ly woody  (which  is  the  case  with  oaks  and  pines,)  and  then  more 
paper  must  be  employed,  care  being  used  to  distribute  the  speci- 
mens pretty  equally  over  the  sheets,  and  thus  a  great  many  may 
be  safely  stowed  in  a  small  compass.  A  slip  of  paper  should  be 
placed  with  each  specimen,  stating  its  name,  if  known,  and  the 
date  and  place  of  collection.  Specimens  so  arranged  are  now 
ready  for  transport,  either  packed  in  boxes  or  covered  with  oil- 
cloth. 
Mosses  and  cryptogamous  plants  may  be  generally  dried  in 
the  common  way  :  those  which  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 
for  removing  the  moisture  from  this  tribe  of  plants. 
It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  all  plants,  whether  living  or 
dried,  ought  to  be  transmitted  to  Europe  with  the  least  possible 
delay ;  the  latter,  especially  in  hot  or  moist  climates  are  often 
soon  destroyed  by  the  depredations  of  insects. 
BOTANICAL  AND  PHARMACOLOGICAL  INQUIRIES  AND  DESIDERATA. 
AFRICA — WEST  COAST,  ALSO  EAST  COAST,  INCLUDING  THE  RED  SEA  AND  ARABIA. 
Copal. — Information  is  much  desired  respecting  the  varieties  of  this 
substance  which  are  found  in  commerce,  and  which  are  exported  from  the 
"West  Coast  of  Africa.  Some  copal  is  believed  to  be  dug  from  the  ground, 
but  one  variety  at  least  is  collected  from  the  tree.    This  is  the  Sierra 
