Botanical specimens : particular directions for collecting and preserving specimens of plants : extracted from an unpublished treatise on practical botany / by John L. Riddell.

  • Riddell, John Leonard, 1807-1865.
Date:
[1834?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Botanical specimens : particular directions for collecting and preserving specimens of plants : extracted from an unpublished treatise on practical botany / by John L. Riddell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    cut down the larger plants to proper dimensions, remove tuberosities from the roots and stem, divide compound flowers, &c. in the manner hereafter to be pointed out. The speci- mens are to occupy a place conveniently within reach on his right. The port-folio is to be opened, and that lid of the cover to which the flap of leather is attached, must be placed on the right knee, the other of course on the left. When thus arranged, the leaves of the port-folio rest on the left lid. A specimen is to be taken in the right hand, and the first leaf of paper in the left; when a flower or any other part of the specimen is placed in a proper position by the right hand, that position is to be secured by bringing the sheet of paper over it with the left hand. The left arm or wrist will now maintain this portion of the paper in place, while the hands are at liberty to adjust other parts of the specimen in the same manner. The second leaf of paper is to overlay the next specimen, and so on until the specimens are all exhausted. Sometimes a pen-knife or sharp stick will be found very convenient, in arranging minutely subdivided leaves, or the parts of complicated flowers. After a little practice, one can put up specimens in a manner perfectly neat, and with a degree of despatch that is almost incredible. It is usually advisable to place leaves, so that their upper surfaces will all look the same way. If the leaves are small, and the two surfaces very similar in appearance, as in Gerardia tenuifolia, Lythrum hyssopifolium, this particular will need little attention. If roots are too thick to find a place in an herbal, they may be pared down, or thin sections of them may be saved. It is better to preserve such roots by washing them carefully in the first place, and allowing them to dry in the open air, attaching a name or number to them by means of a needle, strong thread or twine, and a piece of card. Thick succulent fruits, as the pawpaw, and persimon, are best preserved in spirits of wine; but is is most always advisa- ble to place transverse and longitudinal sections of them in the port-folio. It is certainly very well to accompany the twigs, leaves, and flowers of forest trees and shrubs, with neat sec-