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2.

plants, or the parts thereof, is at best of a perishable nature and, therefore, a large portion of the time at our disposal is, naturally, spent in devising methods and means for its proper preservation, without, at the same time destroying or injuring the specimens in any way whatsoever.
While the mineral products of the collection require but little care after they have once been properly bottled, labelled and placed on exhibition, the vegetable and animal products require constant supervision. The enemies threatening the destruction of these specimens are for the most part parasites of both the vegetable and animal kingdoms, but bacteria and fungi are the most predominant among them. A number of remedies have been tried from time to time with more or less satisfactory results but none, it seems, that were so true from objections and the results of which were so promising