tions, excessively troublesome. I have found that suspending little open paper bags, filled with camphor, in the inside of the doors of my cabinets, is a more simple and a sufficiently effectual protection. It is true that camphor will not drive away the larvæ that may be carried into the herbarium in fresh specimens; but the moment they become perfect insects they quit the cases, without leaving any eggs behind them.

In all large collections of specimens there must necessarily be a constant accumulation of duplicates: as they are of no utility to the possessor, he will, if he is a liberal man, and wishes well to science, distribute them among his friends, or other men of science, in order that the means of observation and examination, upon which the progress of science depends, may be multiplied at the greatest possible number of points. He will not hoard them up till insects, dust, and decay destroy them; he will not plead want of leisure (meaning want of inclination) for looking them out, or, when applied to for them, invent some frivolous excuse for avoiding compliance with the request; on the contrary, he will be anxious to disembarrass himself of that which is superfluous, and it will be his greatest pleasure to find himself able to supply others with the same means of study as himself. Conduct with regard to the disposal of duplicate specimens is a sure sign of the real nature of a man's mind. We may be perfectly certain, for all experience proves it, that to be liberal in the distribution of duplicates is a sign of a liberal generous disposition, and of a man who studies science for its own sake; while, on the other hand, a contrary line of conduct is an equally certain indication of a contracted spirit, and of a man who studies science less for the sake of advancing it, than in the hope of being able to gain some little additional reputation by which his own fame may be extended. A private individual has, no doubt, a right to do as he likes with that which is his own, just as a miser has a right to hoard his money, if such is his taste; but, of the keepers of public collections, it is the bounden duty to take care that every thing in their charge be rendered, in every possible manner, available for the advancement of science.

It is most honourable to the British government, and espe

cially to the Court of Directors of the East India Company, and to the Commissioners for the Affairs of India, that this great public principle has been recognised; and I trust the day is not distant when the trustees of the British Museum will order it to be acted upon, both in spirit and in letter, by the officers in charge of the public property in that national institution.

CHAPTER VII.

OF BOTANICAL DRAWINGS.

ANOTHER important method of indicating and preserving the characters of plants is by means of botanical drawings; which, if carefully executed, and accompanied by magnified analyses of the parts that are not visible upon external inspection, are the very best means of expressing the peculiarities of a species. But, to render drawings really useful, there are many circumstances to be attended to.

In the first botanical works that were illustrated by figures, the drawings were rude, and ill calculated to convey any clear idea of the object they were intended to represent: but, as a knowledge of the science advanced, great improvement took place in their execution; minute accuracy was introduced into the outline of the leaves; the form and position of the flowers were carefully expressed; and, if the parts of fructification were neglected, it was because their importance was not understood. By degrees, the analysis of those parts began to be attended to; attempts were made, with various success, to represent the minute points in the organs of fructification. At last, the subject of carpology was taken up by the celebrated Gartner, who published two quarto volumes, in which numerous plates represented, often in a magnified state, the internal structure of fruits, and especially of their seeds. From the appearance of this work, I think, it is, that decided improvements in the drawings of the analysis of flowers may be dated. Since that period botanical drawings have been gradually improving, till, at last, many have been executed which seem to leave nothing to be desired.

A botanical drawing should represent a branch of the plant in flower, and also in fruit, of the natural size, in which all the characters of the leaves and ramifications, the direction and relative position of parts, the mode of expansion, the arrange

ment of the flowers, and, in short, all that can be seen by the naked eye should be accurately expressed. It should also contain analyses of all the parts of fructification, magnified so much that every character may be distinctly seen; and this analysis, to be complete, should express the state of the organs of fructification, not only at the period of the expansion of the flowers, but in the bud state, and when arrived at perfect maturity. If to this the germination and vernation, and highly magnified anatomical representations of the tissue and internal structure of the stem and leaves, be added, the drawing may be considered complete.

But as the expense of preparing and publishing such drawings would be enormous, botanists usually content themselves with a representation of those parts only that are supposed to be most essential; such as the structure of the flower when expanded, and of the fruit and seed when ripe; and this is found, for systematic purposes, sufficiently complete, provided such details as are introduced are perfectly clear and

correct.

In order to enable the student, who is interested in this subject, to form a more distinct notion of the relative utility of botanical drawings, a reference to some of the most perfect that have yet been executed is subjoined.

As instances of the highest perfection of which botanical drawings are at present susceptible, the volume of illustrations of the structure of Wheat, by Francis Bauer, preserved in the British Museum; the analysis of Rafflesia, published in the 12th volume of the Linnean Transactions; the drawings of New Holland plants in the Appendix to Flinders's voyage to that country, and the three fascicles of figures of New Holland plants by Ferdinand Bauer; with the microscopic drawings of the fructification of Orchidaceous plants, now in course of publication, by the former distinguished artist, may be justly said to be entitled to the first place. A high station is also claimed by Hooker's figures of British Jungermanniæ, in which great artistical skill is combined with accurate, and for the time extensive, microscopical research.

Among works in which fewer details are introduced, espe

cial mention must be made of the drawings of Palms, and the figures that illustrate Von Martius's Nova Genera et Species Plantarum; Turpin's plates in Humboldt and Kunth's Nova Genera Plantarum, and in Delessert's Icones Plantarum; and some excellent analyses of the parts of fructification of Rhamnacea and Bruniaceæ, in his memoirs upon those orders, by Adolphe Brongniart.

Almost every scientific work of reputation, of the present day, contains figures which are formed upon the models of those now enumerated; from which they differ in the quantity of analysis that is introduced, a circumstance generally regulated by the price at which they are published.

Of anatomical plates, the best are those of Link, in his folio work on vegetable anatomy; of Mirbel, in his Mémoire sur l'Ovule; of Adolphe Brongniart, in his various papers in the volumes of the Annales des Sciences; and especially of Mohl, in his illustrations of the anatomy of Palms and Tree Ferns.

I have mentioned these as instances of good drawings, because they are easily accessible, and incontestably are well adapted to improving the taste and execution of a student; but there are other modern works, in which the figures may be also studied with great advantage. Whatever bears the name of Francis or Ferdinand Bauer, Hooker, Greville, Mirbel, Decaisne, Schleiden, L. C. Richard, Miss Drake, Mohl, or Turpin, may almost always be profitably studied.

A very ingenious method of obtaining photogenic drawings, or fac-simile representations of plants, by the action of light upon paper prepared with some of the salts of silver, has lately been invented by Mr. Henry Fox Talbot ; and the art, if it should prove possible to use it for practical purposes, would be of great value: but too little is as yet known of its application, to enable me to speak confidently upon this point.