78  TWENTY-SEVENTH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM. 
arranged that specimens may be keptseparate and protected 
from the injury of mutual pressure, is sometimes recom- 
mended. Envelopes or folded paper pockets are convenient 
for the reception of the minute species that inhabit herb 
stems, twigs, bark, etc., as much time and labor is saved by 
keeping each species in a wrapper by itself. Leaf specimens 
may also be placed in similar wrappers, or in some small port- 
folio or book that can be conveniently carried. A pocket lens, 
a stout sharp knife, a lead pencil and a memorandum book 
should always be carried on collecting excursions. The 
habitat of every species should be carefully noted, and any 
new, remarkable or interesting fact be at once entered in the 
memorandum book. Of the fleshy putrescent fungi, full. de- 
scriptions of the fresh plant are desirable whenever practi- 
cable, unless it be a Known species. 
Fungi are so diverse in character, that the same mode of 
treatment is not applicable to all. The fleshy perishable 
species, such as the Agarici, Boleti, etc., are the most difficult 
to preserve. The most convenient method of preserving them 
is by drying ;. putting them in alcoholic or other preservative 
solutions being expensive and requiring too much space. 
They should not at first be placed in a press. They may, be 
exposed to the fuil rays of the sun, or placed under or near a 
stove in which a fire is kept burning, but care must be taken 
not to heat them so much as to discolor them. The best suc- 
cess is generally attained when the process of drying is slow 
but continuous. It is sometimes better, however, to dry them 
as rapidly as possible without burning, in order to prevent 
decomposition and injury from the larve of insects. The 
Coprini or inky fungi, which are especially difficult to dry 
well, on account of the rapid deliquescence of the lamelle, are 
sometimes successfully treated by suspending them in a sunny 
exposure in the open air. After they have been thoroughly 
dried, they may, at any convenient time, be exposed to the 
moist air of a rainy day, dewy night, or damp cellar, until 
they are flexible enough to be pressed into proper shape to lie 
well on the herbarium sheets. This slight moisture may be 
abstracted, and the proper shape made permanent, by placing 
-the specimens in any ordinary plant press for a short time. 
Fungi of adry or coriaceous texture may be placed in the 
plant press without previous drying, but even these often 
