(2 9 ) 



The foundation of this collection is a series of types con- 

 sisting primarily of a specimen of a plant, supplemented, when 

 possible, by a plate, drawing or photograph. These objects 

 stand against the backs of the cases. On the shelves in front 

 of these specimens are arranged other objects, either dry or in 

 fluid, as flowers, fruits, sections of wood and fossils, to further 

 illustrate the characteristics of the various groups. 



In order to make the disposition of this, the largest and 

 most important collection on the second floor of the building, 

 as natural as possible and also convenient and intelligible 

 to the visiting public as well as to students, the exhibition 

 cases near the top of the staircase by which most of the vis- 

 itors reach the second floor, were selected as the starting 

 point for the series of types. Here are located the most 

 lowly organized plants, whence the gradually more complex 

 groups follow, in a general way, the walls of the building, un- 

 til the most highly organized plants are reached at the head 

 of the staircase by which visitors naturally leave the floor. 



The present installation is as follows : One case (the first) 

 contains the myxomycetes or slime-moulds. The seven 

 cases following this are devoted to that vast group the algae 

 or sea-weeds. Seven cases following these contain the var- 

 ious groups of the fungi. Three cases are devoted to the 

 lichens, two to the hepatics, four to the mosses, three to the 

 pteridophytes, three to the gymnosperms, six to the mono- 

 cotyledons and thirty-six to the dicotyledons. 



b. The Local Flora. In this collection it is intended to 

 show a specimen of each species known to grow naturally 

 within ioo miles of New York City. In cases where it is 

 undesirable or impossible to use the plant itself, the species 

 is represented by a plate, photograph or drawing. This col- 

 lection occupies the swinging frames which are placed so as 

 to correspond in a general way to the sequence of the cases 

 of the synoptic collection. 



In this local collection most of the myxomycetes or slime- 

 moulds, some of the algae, most of the lichens, the hepatics, 

 the sphagna, the mosses and many of the pteridophytes and 

 spermatophytes have been installed. 



