COLLECTING AND PRKSERVINC; FUNCI 41 



present in the fresh specimen, and more especially those characters 

 that cannot be expected to remain obvious in the dried specimen. 

 Amongst such are the viscid nature of the cap or stem, the presence 

 of a delicate bloom or mealy appearance of any part, colour, smell, 

 taste, etc. These notes should accompany the specimen when dried, 

 mounted on paper, and ready for the herbarium. One point of value 

 in connection with such notes, is the fact that by experience 

 a person is able to judge, with a fair amount of accuracy, the 

 appearance of a living specimen from an examination of a dried 

 one, as regards presence or absence of viscidity, texture, etc., if 

 the changes undergone during drying have been carefully noted, 

 and compared with the condition presented by the specimen in a 

 living condition. Having accomplished the preliminary note- 

 taking, it will be at once obvious that a large fleshy agaric cannot 

 be preserved intact as a herbarium specimen, but must be mani- 

 pulated in some way. As will have been already gathered, in all 

 the gill-bearing fungi the mode of attacliment of the gills to the 

 stem, or their freedom from it, are points of primary importance 

 in determining the genus to which a fungus belongs. This is 

 accomplished by cutting a median longitudinal section or shce, 

 about a quarter of an inch in thickness, through the cap and stem. 

 This section will show clearly the relation of the gills to the stem, 

 the outline of the cap, whether convex, depressed, etc., also the 

 character of the margin or edge of the cap, whether incurved, 

 recurved, or straight. As regards the stem, the section will indicate 

 whether it was solid, hollow^ or stuffed, that is, the central portion 

 consisting of a loose, cottony substance. If a ring were present 

 it will most likely break away during the process of cutting, but it 

 should be preserved and placed in its proper position in the section. 

 The same remark applies when a volva is present at the base of the 

 stem. If specimens are plentiful, after selecting a typical one, the 

 stem, gills, and portion of the flesh should be cut away, leaving the 

 outside of the cap intact ; this will serve to show the principal 

 features of the cap, as to whether it was smooth, grooved, scaly, 

 warted, etc. If only one specimen is forthcoming, then the pieces 

 of the cap remaining after the central section has been removed, 

 should be utilized. When the sections are prepared they should 

 be placed between folds of botanical drying paper, or blotting-paper, 

 and dried after the manner of drying flowering plants, but only 

 very little pressure should be applied, and the paper should be 

 replaced frequently by fresh dry sheets, until the specimens are 

 perfectly dry. After the specimens have been drying for a few days, 

 the amateur will often be disgusted to find that his specimens are 

 teeming with small maggots, and more or less destroyed. The 

 presence of various chemical forms of sugar existing in many 

 fungi induces flies and other insects to deposit their eggs in the 

 tissues of fungi, so that it is almost impossible to secure a fungus 



