: CRYPTOGAMOUS OR FLOWERLESS PLANTS.

CLASS I. PTERIDOPHYTA, PTERIDOPHYTES (484).

CLASS II. BRYOPHYTA, BRYOPHYTES (498).

CLASS III. THALLOPHYTA, THALLOPHYTES (503).

SECTION XIX. BOTANICAL WORK.

555. Some hints and brief instructions for the collection, examination,
and preservation of specimens are added. They are especially intended
for the assistance of those who have not the advantage of a teacher.
They apply to phanerogamous plants and Ferns only, and to systematic
botany.[1]

Sec. 1. COLLECTION, OR HERBORIZATION.

556. As much as possible, plants should be examined in the living state,
or when freshly gathered. But dried specimens should be prepared for
more leisurely examination and for comparison. To the working botanist
good dried specimens are indispensable.

557. =Botanical Specimens=, to be complete, should have root or
rootstock, stem, leaves, flowers, both open and in bud, and fruit.
Sometimes these may all be obtained at one gathering; more commonly two
or three gatherings at different times are requisite, especially for
trees and shrubs.

558. =In Herborizing=, a good knife and a narrow and strong trowel are
needed; but a very strong knife will serve instead of a trowel or small
pick for digging out bulbs, tubers, and the like. To carry the
specimens, either the tin box (_vasculum_) or a portfolio, or both are
required. The tin box is best for the collection of specimens to be used
fresh, as in the class-room; also for very thick or fleshy plants. The
portfolio is indispensable for long expeditions, and is best for
specimens which are to be preserved in the herbarium.

559. The _Vasculum_, or _Botanical Collecting-box_, is made of tin, in
shape like a candle-box, only flatter, or the smaller sizes like an
English sandwich-case; the lid opening for nearly the whole length of
one side of the box. Any portable tin box of convenient size, and
capable of holding specimens a foot or fifteen inches long, will answer
the purpose. The box should shut close, so that the specimens may not
wilt: then it will keep leafy branches and most flowers perfectly fresh
for a day or two, especially if slightly moistened. They should not be
wet.

560. _The Portfolio_ is best made of two pieces of solid binder's-board,
covered with enamel cloth, which also forms the back, and fastened by
straps and buckles. It may be from a foot to twenty inches long, from
nine to eleven or twelve inches wide. I