PREPARING AND MOUNTING THEM

In order to preserve anything of their natural beauty, great care is requisite. The specimens must be taken from the water, or from the beach where the tide may have left them, as fresh as possible, before they have been dashed about much by the waves; or waler-soaked, by repeated wetting and drying ; or eaten into holes by shrimps and small Crustacea of the shore. The water should be gently, but firmly, squeezed from them, and they should then be wrapped in cloths pro- vided for the purpose. In this state they may be carried home, where they may immediately be spread, or if desirable, taken out and dried, in which state they will keep for a long time for future treatment.

When they are to be spread, they must be placed in a somewhat deep dish, half full of water, in which they can be thoroughly cleared of sand and all adhering substances, and prepared for spreading. They are then to be transferred to a shallow plate large enough to spread them in, the stems disentangled, and the whole plant placed in the position which best displays its peculiar structure or its points of interest. It is best to use salt water for these purposes, if it can be had, since fresh water sometimes has an injurious effect upon them. If, however, salt water is not at hand, the fresh will answer for all ordinary demands. Some of the most delicate algae are said to be not only injured, but broken up and dissolved by it ; but none of the ordinary species have their beauty in any degree impaired by being spread in fresh water, as is proven by long experience.

PREPARING AND MOUNTING THEM. 333

When duly spread, all redundant or interfering branches should be lopped off, as the growth is sometimes very thick, and a branch cannot always be made to lie flat in its place. When this has been done, and the best shape given to the plant, it is to be transferred to paper. For this purpose, pieces of firm drawing paper, not too thick, must be pro- vided. It is best to have them cut to suitable sizes, and in readiness for use. A paper of sufficient size to take the whole plant, and to have a suitable margin, is next to be quielly slipped under the specimen as it lies expanded in the water, and it may then be lifted by one end gently and carefully from the dish. Care must be taken that the branches, of which the lower and larger will generally come first, are in place on the paper as it leaves the water, and each of the others as its turn comes, till the whole specimen is displayed upon the paper very nearly as it was when in the water. If the parts of the specimen fall over one another in leaving the water, they may be restored to their positions by the aid of a camel's hair pencil and a smooth little point of wood or bone. After this comes a still more critical piece of work. The speci- men, if a delicate one, will have the fringes of fine fibres, which look so beautiful in the water, all run together upon the paper in an undis- tinguishable mass, along the branch. These must now be picked out with a needle, while a little water remains upon the paper to facilitate the movement of them. At length, the whole specimen, with all its branches in place, all its delicate structure brought to view, and all its fine fringes displayed, or, if a full leaf, with its edges carefully

When sufficiently free from moisture, a number of specimens — the gathering, perhaps, of a single day — may be pressed at once. The first is to be placed upon a fiat board of convenient size, a piece of muslin spread smoothly over it, two or three thicknesses of absorbing paper, smoothly laid above and below it ; another specimen is then to be placed above it, to be followed by the same round of muslin and paper — till all have been put in place. The use of the muslin is to prevent the specimen from adhering to the paper above it, in which case it would probably be torn to pieces when the covering paper is removed.

The whole mass should then be covered with another smooth and strong board and subjected to heavy pressure. After two or three days the specimens should be examined, dry cloths spread over them, and all wrinkles in the paper, so far as possible be removed, and the plants returned to the press till the papers are thoroughly dry ; since, if removed from it while yet damp, they will dry irregularly, and cannot again be readily smoothed. On each specimen, the name, date and locality should be written.

334 SEA- WEED SPECIMENS.-

There are various ways of arranging sea-weed. You may gum the specimens in a scrap-book, or insert them in by cutting four slits in the page at each corner. They look well arranged gracefully around pho- tographs, especially if small shells are added. This should be encircled by a gilt frame and a glass placed over the picture to preserve it. An album of views of seaside resorts is very pretty when each picture is set in a frame of sea-weeds. Paper lamp shades look pretty orna- mented with sea-weeds gummed in the divisions.

To preserve the sea-weed, especially the coarser kinds, after they are cleaned and pressed, brush them over with spirits of turpentine, in which two or three lumps of gum mastic have been dissolved by shaking in a warm place ; two-thirds of a small phial is the proper proportion.

FOR ALBUMS, LYJiES AND CROSSES.

Materials : Two scallop shells, half a yard of ribbon. No. 4, eight tiny colored pictures, moss and white note paper. Drill small holes in the shells to fasten them together. Cut the paper in leaves, the size of the shells ; notch the edges. Put a picture on one upper corner of each leaf. Paste a different kind on each leaf. To fasten the leaves in the shells, put the ribbon across the center and tie in a bow at the back of the shells.

A lyre fashioned of sea-moss makes a lovely ornament for a bracket or the wall, and is made in this way : Take a piece of white silk and cover a square of pasteboard as large as you wish the ornament to be. Break a knitting needle in two pieces : with a file smooth the broken end of one piece, and place it horizontally across the board, a little above the center. Now take five short knitting needles, place them perpendicularly across the Doard, about one-eighth of an inch apart, allowing the upper parts to extend one inch above the horizontal needle, and fasten to the board with a stitch at the top and bottom of each needle or with a little mucilage. This forms the cross-bar and strings of the lyre. For the frame, arrange the moss around the strings in form of a lyre. Put the darkest mosses at the bottom, close together, and shade off to the lightest colors as you near the top. Set this in a deep frame, such as are used for wax flowers, cover with glass, and you will have an ornament rare and beautiful. In forming the lyre it is not necessary to float the weed in water, as it would not be handled as the album would. A little mucilage fastening it to the board here and there will do as well. Gold-colored silk is sometimes used instead of the needles. It is not so much trouble, and is very pretty. Crosses, wreaths and many other fancy knickknacks may be made on these same principles, according to the taste of the person.

Sea-weed and mosses can be made into pictures for albums or for framing, by drawing a cross, and covering it with white glue ; then sprinkling on it fine pieces of pearl and grouping mosses at the bottom for a base.

SHELLS. 335