Living cactuses bear transportation well if young or medium-sized specimens are selected. The entire plant, or, if too large, a joint or cutting, is thrown in the shade for a few weeks to shrivel, after which the specimens are wrapped in dry hay or moss, and loosely packed in well-ventilated boxes. Treated in this way, they preserve their vitality for from six to sixteen months. Seedlings are easily raised from seeds thoroughly dried and packed in situ. If the fruit is large and pulpy, it is sliced to facilitate the drying, and should be kept from moisture, but exposed to a free circulation of air.

Herbarium specimens are best made by removing the flowers from the plant and pressing them separately in the ordinary way, after first sectioning some of them. When not too large, the fruit may be dried in the same way, otherwise it is halved and excavated before being put in press, the seed being air-dried. The entire stem, if small, or characteristic joints if it is compound, may be pressed till dry, after allowing it to shrivel ; or if it is too large for this, a piece is removed showing the top, the insertion of several bunches of spines and of the flowers and some of the tubercles or ribs. Sometimes it is necessary to split and excavate these specimens, and cross-sections dried under light pressure are desirable. If the means of transportation permit, entire plants or well-selected parts are rough-dried without pressure. These " skeletons," preserved in boxes in the herbarium, are often more instructive than the more ornamental pressed fragments. When possible, it is also desirable to make alcoholic specimens of the flower and fruit. - Botanical Gazette; adapted from Notes of the late Dr. Englemann.