[NHCOLL-L:3166] gluing plants down

[Steven Heydon]

As an amateur woodworker, one of the things you learn is the fact  
that when you are gluing dissimilar substances together or even the  
same kind of wood with the grain going in perpendicular directions is  
that it is very important to allow the wood in the joint to move  
freely but very slightly. This prevents the inevitable breaking of  
the glue joint due to different amounts of expansion in different  
materials or across as opposed to along the grain. A similar problem  
would seem to affect herbarium specimens glued all down their length.  
If the specimens are firmly affixed to the paper, any flexing of the  
paper is not going to break the paper or the glue, but will break the  
weakest link--the plant specimen. It seems the straps perform an  
excellent job of keeping the specimen attached to the sheet and at  
the same time allowing for some movement of the specimen to prevent  
breakage.


Steven L.  Heydon, Ph.D.
R. M. Bohart Museum of Entomology
Department of Entomology
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis CA 95616   USA

Phone 530 752–0493
FAX 530 752–9464
e–mail slheydon at ucdavis.edu


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