202 The Plant World. 



man of science, an honor to Stanford University of which he 

 was an honored member. — G. ]. P. 



Mr. George B. Rigg, of the University of Washington, has 

 devised a useful method for preparing large algae such as Nereo- 

 cystis, Lamimria and Alaria for demonstration purposes, re- 

 garding which he writes as follows : " If specimens of any cf 

 thelargeralgaearetakenfrom the water and dried at once in the 

 sun they will keep, but they are too brittle to be handled with- 

 out breaking. Specimens, may of course, be preserved in liquid 

 preservatives but they are not convenient for handling on account 

 of the liquid dripping from them. If preserved in formalin 

 they tend to become soft after a few months The writer has used 

 the method of soaking these algae in the following solution : 

 tap water, 84 percent; glycerine, 15 percent, formalin, 1 percent. 

 The plants were taken directly from the water and placed in 

 the solution in a wash tub, where they were left for 48 hours 

 and then spread out in the sun to dry. About two dozen spec- 

 imens of Nereocystis leutkeana were first prepared. Later a 

 few specimens of Alaria valida, Lamina ria saccharina, and 

 Rhodymcnia pertnsa WQX^ prepared. The first plants prepared 

 have been used during the past year for demonstration pur- 

 poses and for gross study in the laboratory in the elementary 

 botany course in the University of Washington. They have 

 all been kept in a wooden box without cover. At the present 

 time (I\Iay 1911) they are in satisfactory condition, being flex- 

 ible enough to be handled without breaking. It is observed 

 that those kept in the top of the box show a slight tendency to be- 

 come brittle, but the flexibility of those kept deeper in the box 

 is entirely satisfactory. None of the sporophylls of Alaria 

 have broken off, and there has been no collapsing of the bulb 

 or of the hollow part of the stem in the Nereocystis specimens. 

 All of the plants are slightly oily to the touch but not enough 

 so to be very objectionable, and are of the consistency of very 

 thin leather. No attempt was made to procure the largest speci- 

 mens available, the plants selected being of ordinary size. The 

 largest specimen of Nereocystis prepared measures 27 feet from 

 the holdfast to the bulb, and the fronds measure 10 feet, mak- 



