BOTANICAL SPECIMENS, LEAF IMPRESSIONS, ETC

1622. The plants you wish to preserve should be gathered when the weather is dry, and after placing the ends in water, let them remain in a cool place till the next day.

1623. When about to be submitted to the process of drying, place each plant between several sheets of blotting-paper, and iron it with a large smooth heater, pretty strongly warmed, till all the moisture is dissipated.

1624. Colors may thus be fixed, which otherwise become pale, or nearly white.

1625. Some plants require more moderate heat than others, and herein consists the nicety of the experiment; but I have generally found, that if the iron be not too hot, and is passed rapidly, yet carefully, over the surface of the blotting-paper, it answers the purpose equally well with plants of almost every variety of hue and thickness.

1626. In compound flowers, with those also of a stubborn and solid form as the Centaurea, some little art is required in cutting away the under part, by which means the profile and forms of the flowers will be more distinctly exhibited.

1627. This is especially necessary, when the method employed by Major Velley is adopted: viz., to fix the flowers and fructification down with gum upon the paper previous to ironing, by which means they become almost incorporated with the surface.

1628. When this very delicate process is attempted, blotting-paper should be laid under every part excepting the blossoms, in order to prevent staining the white paper. Great care must be taken to keep preserved specimens in a dry place.

1629. _Skeleton leaves_ may be made by steeping leaves in rain water, in an open vessel, exposed to the air and sun. Water must occasionally be added to compensate loss by evaporation.

1630. The leaves will putrefy, and then their membranes will begin to open; then lay them on a clean white plate, filled with clean water, and with gentle touches take off the external membranes, separating them cautiously near the middle rib. When there is an opening toward the latter the whole membrane separates easily.

1631. The process requires a great deal of patience, as ample time must be given for the vegetable tissues to decay, and separate.

1632. _A more Expeditious Method._--A tablespoonful of chlorid of lime in a liquid state, mixed with a quart of pure spring water.

1633. Leaves or seed-vessels of plants to be soaked in the mixture for about four hours, then taken out and well washed in a large basin filled with water, after which they should be left to dry with free exposure to light and air.

1634. Some of the largest species of forest leaves, or such as have strong ribs, will require to be left rather more than four hours in the liquid.

1635. _Dwarf Plants._--Take a cutting of the plant you wish to dwarf, say a myrtle, for instance, and having set it in a pot, wait until you are satisfied that it has taken root; then take a cutting from it, and place it in a miniature flower-pot, taking care to fill it more than three parts with fine sand, the remainder with mould.

1636. Put it under a glass on the chimney-piece, or in any warm place, and give it very small quantities of water.

1637. _Preserve Fungi._--Receipt of the celebrated botanist, William Withering, Esq., by which specimens of fungi may be beautifully preserved.

1638. Take two ounces of sulphate of copper, or blue vitriol, and reduce it to powder, and pour upon it a pint of boiling water, and when cold, add half a pint of spirits of wine; cork it well, and call it "the pickle."

1639. To eight pints of water add one pint and a-half of spirits of wine, and call it "the liquor."

1640. Be provided with a number of wide-mouthed bottles of different sizes, all well fitted with corks. The fungi should be left on the table as long as possible to allow the moisture to evaporate.

1641. They should then be placed in the pickle for three hours, or longer, if necessary; then place them in the bottles intended for their reception, and fill with the liquor.

1642. They should then be well corked and sealed, and arranged in order with their names in front of the bottles.

1643. _Leaf Impressions._--Hold oiled paper in the smoke of a lamp, or of pitch, until it becomes coated with the smoke; to this paper apply the leaf of which you wish an impression, having previously warmed it between your hands, that it may be pliable.

1644. Place the lower surface of the leaf upon the blackened surface of the oil paper, that the numerous veins that are so prominent on this side may receive from the paper a portion of the smoke.

1645. Lay a paper over the leaf, and then press it gently upon the smoked paper, with the fingers, or with a small roller, (covered with woolen cloth, or some like soft material), so that every part of the leaf may come in contact with the sooted oil-paper.

1646. A coating of the smoke will adhere to the leaf.

1647. Then remove the leaf carefully, and place the blackened surface on a sheet of white paper, not ruled, or in a book prepared for the purpose, covering the leaf with a clean slip of paper, and pressing upon it with the fingers, or roller, as before.

1648. Thus may be obtained the impression of a leaf, showing the perfect outlines, together with an accurate exhibition of the veins which extend in every direction through it, more correctly than the finest drawing.

1649. This process is so simple, and the material so easily obtained, that any person, with a little practice to enable him to apply the right quantity of smoke to the oil-paper, and give the leaf a proper pressure, can prepare beautiful leaf impressions, such as a naturalist would be proud to possess.

1650. There is another, and we think, a better method of taking _leaf impressions_ than the preceding one.

1651. _Leaf Impressions in Ink._--After warming the leaf between the hands, apply printing ink, by means of a small leather ball containing cotton, or some soft substance, or with the end of the finger.

1652. The leather ball (and the finger when used for that purpose), after the ink is applied to it, should be pressed several times on a piece of leather, or some smooth surface, before each application to the leaf, that the ink may be smoothly and evenly applied.

1653. After the under surface of the leaf has been sufficiently inked, apply it to the paper, where you wish the impression; and after covering it with a slip of paper, use the hand or roller to press upon it, as described in the former process. (See 711, page 176.)

1654. _Impressions from Coins._--Melt a little isinglass glue with brandy, and pour it thinly over the medal, &c., so as to cover its whole surface; let it remain on for a day or two, till it has thoroughly dried and hardened, and then take it off, when it will be fine, clear, and as hard as a piece of Muscovy glass, and will have a very elegant impression of the coin. It will also resist the effects of damp air, which occasions all other kinds of glue to soften and bend, if not prepared in this way.