16 



In addition to the personal collections above noted, there has been a 

 reasonable amount of willingness expressed on the part of botanists else- 

 where in the state to co-operate in making known the cryptogamic flora 

 of their respective localities. Tne most serviceable aid in this direction 

 has been rendered by Professor M. B. Thomas, and his assistant, Mr. E. W. 

 Olive. During the past autumn they have collected and identified 120 

 species of parasitic fungi from the vicinity of Crawfordsville. It is likely 

 that during the present winter season and especially during the coming 

 summer we may hope for much local work of this character. So long as 

 the survey is conducted on a purely voluntary basis this local work is a 

 necessity and it is to be hoped that by this means much will be accom- 

 plished in the direction of determining the extent and range of our flora. 

 One great lack among local workers is the lack of literature. So far as the 

 colleges are concerned only three, perhaps, offer more than minimum 

 opportunities in this direction. So far as I am aware there is only one 

 copy of Saccardo's SyJ'oge Fungonun in any library in the state, and other 

 literature is almost equally lacking, even in libraries where more is ex- 

 pected. There has also been a seeming fear on the part of some that work 

 in f-ystematic botany would prove an injury if attempted in connection 

 with a course of botanical study, and that anything short of work in 

 cytology was undignified in a botanical laboratory. It is certain that the 

 swing of the pendulum has reached its outward limit in this direction and 

 that systematic botany, particularly that of the cryptogams is likely to 

 demand more serious and general work than it has hitherto been accorded 

 in America. So far as the laboratory with which the director is concerned, 

 we will say that the fullest opportunities will be given to any ]o<;al workers 

 who may wish to use its library *and collections. 



In order to make representative species more accessible to local workers, 

 the survey has planned the issue of a series of «xsiccatte of Indiana cryp- 

 togams for distribution among public and private collections, where they 

 may become serviceable. The conditions of this gratuitous distribution 

 will be given privately, though it may be here stated that sets will be 

 placed in at least four of the colleges of the state that maintain a perma- 

 nent herbarium. Of course the labor involved in preparing these sets 



-Ample works are here accessible for ordinary systematic reference in the fungi, 

 hepaticte and musci. The literature of the algre and lichens though considerable is 

 not so extensive. The same is even more true of the collections, as may be seen in the 

 note below. 



