300 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



SHOUT NOTES. 



Collecting Aquatic Plants (p. 260). Mr. Pearsall's prac- 

 tical directions for collecting and preserving linear-leaved aquatics 

 will be welcomed by tbose whose botany has an aesthetic side, and 

 who do not regard herbarium specimens merely as laboratory material, 

 but wish them to be, as far as possible, at least reminiscent of the 

 beauties of the growing plants. I would advocate the extension of 

 the treatment to all our water-plants, with the exception perhaps 

 of water-lilies, but even the submersed leaves of these latter will be 

 the better for being " floated out." One group especially occurs to 

 me in this connexion, the Callitricb.es. A greater contrast can hardly 

 exist than that between the miserable little tangle of draggled stems, 

 with some slips of paper across, which often does duty for a 

 ''specimen,'' and a real specimen of one of these beautiful plants 

 which has been carefully floated out. I need perhaps hardly mention 

 that Callitricbes should be put out soon after collection, or, if this is 

 impossible, put into a bowl of water, otherwise the rosettes will grow 

 out and lose their distinctive characters, besides spoiling their appear- 

 ance. My experience has been that even the very delicate water- 

 plants will carry well, and even keep for days in the vasculum, if well 

 washed and placed in thin layers between two or tln-ee thicknesses of 

 newspaper and rolled up tightly. The addition of some clean stiff 

 water-plant, JSlodea best of all, is veiy r helpful with the more deli- 

 cate things. Mr. Pearsall's zinc trays must be excellent for floating 

 out, but if such are not available, large photographic trays answer 

 well. I have found a sheet of perforated zinc under the paper a 

 great help in getting the specimens out of water without disarrange- 

 ment, and a moistened camel-hair brush useful immediately after- 

 wards for putting stems and leaves .straight before the water is drained 

 off. I have found calico more satisfactory than blotting-paper to 

 lav over the specimens, and would advocate the first change of the 

 drying-paper, removing the calico (except in the case of sea-weeds) 

 the day after putting them in, and a second change in two or three 

 days. Mr. Pearsall's hints come most opportunely just now, -when 

 Mrs. Arber's delightful and entirely admirable book Water Plants 

 must have given a great stimulus to the collection of aquatics. May 

 I express the hope that others who find out successful methods for 

 dealing with difficult specimens might similarly help by communi- 

 cating them to the Journal? For instance, 1 think most of us 

 would welcome directions for satisfactorily drying succulent plants. — 

 James Groves, 



[We gladly endorse Mr. Groves's suggestion. — Ed. Jourx. Pot.] 

 Fertilization of Mistletoe (see Journ Bot. 191S, 331). 

 Further experiments to prove the method whereby Viscum album 

 effects its pollination have been made this spring. All the flowers of 

 the male plant, which grows on the same tree as the female plant on 

 which all the experiments have been made, were carefully cut outras 

 soon as they were formed. Pollination from this source was abso- 

 lutely impossible. Another male plant, which is the (inly one existing 



