Herbarium

Herbarium, or HORTUS SICCUS ('dry garden'), a collection of specimens of dried plants, intended for the future study and examination of botanists. Specimens intended for the herbarium should be as perfect in all their parts as possible. They are laid between layers of blotting or botanical paper, and subjected to pressure to dry them. The pressure should be light at first, but increased as the process of drying goes on. The paper requires to be changed frequently—daily in the case of succulent specimens. Special methods have to be adopted in the case of very succulent specimens, such as orchids, &c.: only very slight pressure must be given; and subjecting them to constant uniform heat, as in hot sand, placing them in an oven, or suspending and turning them before the fire, enveloping them first of course in paper, indicate some of the modes of proceeding with such-like specimens. When dried they are mounted on paper, and, if they are to be of any scientific value, the generic and specific names of each should be attached, along with all other data bearing on its identity, such as habitat, &c. Care must be taken to preserve specimens from the ravages of moths and beetles by frequent inspection, by the aid of camphor, and by the occasional application of a little corrosive sublimate.