Directions for collecting specimens and information illustrating the aboriginal uses of plants / by Frederick V. Coville.

  • Frederick Vernon Coville
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Directions for collecting specimens and information illustrating the aboriginal uses of plants / by Frederick V. Coville. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/12 (page 5)
    [5] ABORIGINAL USES OF PLANTS-COVILLE. when ready for shipment should be packed between two sheets of stiff pasteboard, tightly wrapped, and tied. In labeling specimens the directions given below should be followed. Materials illustrating manufacture and use.—Next in importance to the identification of the plant, in our observations, comes the question of its manufacture. This should be illustrated by specimens of the crude materials in all the different stages through which they pass, together, when possible, with specimens of the completed product. In the case, for example, of a plant whose roots are used for food, speci¬ mens of the root should be obtained, preferably those dug by the Indians themselves; other specimens of the root after cooking; still others after the material is ground or otherwise prepared for its ultimate use; and if the ground product is made into cakes or bread, samples of these also. The methods of preparation are so varied in the case of different seeds, fresh fruits, roots, textile products, etc., that no single rule can be given except to secure specimens illustrating every stage in the process of preparation. Paper envelopes or cloth bags are convenient receptacles for these materials, labeled according to the directions given below. On account of their liability to injury from moisture, insects, or other causes, it is preferable to forward spec¬ imens to their destination at once. But if this is impossible, they should be kept in a dry place, and, if they become infested by insects, should be subjected to the vapor of carbon bisulphide (a poisonous and highly inflammable substance), naphthaline, or any of the commercial products commonly employed to prevent the ravages of moths and other insects. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMENS, AND NOTES. Specimens forwarded to the Smifchsonion Institution should be care¬ fully labeled, as in the absence of proper data they are almost worthless. Notes are always of interest, even when not illustrated by specimens, but they become especially important when well-labeled specimens accompany them. Descriptions of such articles are then capable ol verification at any time in the future. Labeling of specimens.—Each specimen should be marked by a num¬ ber, the numbers arranged chronologically in the order of collecting. These numbers should be entered in a blank book, or on separate sheets suitable for ultimate binding, and with each number the requisite data should be written, whether the specimen is a plant collected for the purpose of identification or is a derivative product. These sheets, pre¬ ferably about 5J by 8J inches in size, should accompany the specimens to their destination, duplicates being retained by the sender if he desires. A blank space should be left for the insertion of the technical name, and below should be given the common and aboriginal names,