ildiscolour
the plants. Turpentine and corrosive sublimate may
also be used, but as tho corrosive sublimate is not soluble in
it, the effect is uncertain. When the specimens are dry they
should be glued to paper, which, if of the size mostly used
for the herbarium, may be kept loose, but if of various sizes,
as is perhaps most convenient, each slip of paper may he
fastened with a small pin, so that several specimens may he
included in one sheet. The slip should always hear some
definite proportion to the sheet for convenience of arrangement.
No portion of the herbarium requires more frequent
inspection to prevent the ravages of mites and other insects;
and, ahove all, the room in which the Fungi are placed must
be free from damp, or the specimens, especially those which
arc dried without making sections, will be apt to mould. The
great inconvenience about these is, that after a time, from the
presence of some soluble salt, they are apt to vary with the
weather as to their condition of dryness, and then the papers
on which they are placed will he stained. At present I am
not aware of any remedy for this inconvenience.
As, after all possible care, the colours, and many of the
minuter characters, will be more or less impaired, it is advisable
never to place a specimen within tho papers for drying
without at the same time making an accompanying note,
giving such information about it as may serve to identify it.
Without this, mistakes and perplexities will often arise, and a
little care at first will grow into a habit, making it almost impossible
to attempt to dry a specimen without a proper note.
The commonest species will thus have its proper value, and
will sometimes come into use, when it is least expected.
The Myxogastres are best preserved in the herbarium by
fastening the specimens to the base of a neat shallow box,
with a lid capable of being easily removed. I f each box is
gummed to a slip of paper, exactly as if it were a specimen,
and docs not exceed a quarter of an inch in depth, no inconvenience
-will be found in the herbarium from its presence,
and there will be no chance of the destruction of the plant,
which it will bo almost impossible to avoid by any other
method.