Herbariums, or collections of dried plants, usually serve little more purpose than to identify a species, and even then one can often not be sure, because the specimens are imperfect in some respect. They seldom serve the purpose of teaching botany.

Mr. Buysman, of Middleburg, Holland, has conceived the happy idea of getting up herbariums in which all the leading parts of the plant shall be so displayed that in many cases the full characters of a whole natural order might be taught by them.