Instructions to Students 



The color system principally used by botanists is Saccardo's "Chro- 

 motaxia," costing fifty cents. It is decidedly inadequate. Ridgway's 

 "Nomenclature of Colors for Naturalists" is far better, but it is out of 

 print and obtainable only at the principal libraries. "The Prang Stand- 

 ard of Color" is the most complete ever issued, but it is inapplicable to 

 existing descriptions of fungi. 



Take, to print upon, sheets of Bristol-board or any stiff, hard-sur- 

 T M , . faced white paper 6x9 inches or larger. Cut a round 

 Preserve hole, four inches in diameter, in one of the sheets. Use 



this as a stencil. Lay it upon a print-sheet and where 

 the opening occurs, paint with a weak solution of gum arabic H oz. 

 (one teaspoonful) to one pint of water. Dry the print-sheets. 



When a spore-print is to be taken, select a fully-grown specimen, re- 

 move the stem, place the spore-bearing surface upon the gummed 

 paper, cover tightly with an inverted bowl or saucer, and allow to stand 

 undisturbed for eight or ten hours. The moisture in the plant will 

 soften the gummed surface ; the spores will be shed and will adhere to 

 it, making a perfect, permanent print. When the print is plain, remove 

 the specimen carefully and dry the print. Number the print-cards to 

 correspond with the number of the specimen in the "Record of Fungi," 

 and place them in a box or cover. Some genera shed their spores sooner 

 and more freely than others. A surplus of spores is objectionable. In 

 order to know when a print is plainly made, without disturbing the 

 process, have either a specimen of the same age, or a piece of the one 

 under the bowl, on another piece of gummed paper, covered in like 

 manner. This can be examined and will give the desired information. 

 A little experience will enable the student to obtain good and lasting 

 prints. 



The large black figures on some calendars, if cut with the white about 

 them, are convenient as trial sheets for spore-printing. Lay the speci- 

 men partly on the white, partly on the black. If the spores are light, 

 they show best on black ground, and if colored, they show best on the 

 light. 



Spore measurements, as given by different observers, vary to such a 

 degree that they are of little value, excepting as determining a few 

 species, but spore shapes and characteristics are of use as a last resort, 

 in accurate determinations. A microscope of considerable power is 

 needed. 



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