The above are the principal points connected with the arrangement of a herbarium, considered as distinct from the work of collecting. It is possible that I may have omitted to touch upon certain details which may occur to the amateur; should such be the case, I may add that I shall be happy to supply any additional information, either by letter or by word of mouth; or to show the system adopted at the British Museum to anyone who may call upon me there for further hints upon the subject.
X.
GRASSES, ETC.
By Professor Buckman, F.G.S., etc.
Grasses form such a distinct group of plants, and their study is so often undertaken for special purposes, that a few remarks upon their collection and preservation can hardly be considered as out of place in this little manual.
Delicately as grasses are formed, yet it cannot be said that their tissues are so liable to injury, or their colours so evanescent, as those of the flowering plants which the botanist ordinarily delights in. Nor indeed are the grasses so succulent as many other herbs. In this respect they may be said to hold a place between ferns and those plants which usually are called flowers.
Again, in the dried state their organs are generally so well preserved as to present all that a botanist can wish for, for identification as well as arrangement; and the student of grasses ever finds his collection to contain beauties not only in point of rarity, but as regards delicacy of structure and grace of outline.