COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OP FUNGI. 83 



to compare one with another. One great drawback which 

 attends on the study of Fungi is the difficulty of preserving 

 most of the larger and more important species in a state fit 

 for examination. The difficulty is, however, not insurmount- 

 able, and with a little practice useful specimens may readily 

 be prepared. 



The harder species, such as the Polypori, etc., according to 

 their size, may be dried between bibulous paper after the 

 fashion of other plants, care being taken that the papers are 

 changed with sufficient frequency. The larger species, which 

 do not admit of this treatment except in the form of sections, 

 may be simply placed in a warm, dry place, and when the 

 moisture is well evaporated, the larvae of any insects which 

 may remain in them may be destroyed by a few minutes' 

 submission to the heat of an oven, taking care, however, that 

 it is not so hot as to scorch the specimens. 



As regards the fleshy Fungi, it is better generally to adopt 

 two plans : — first, to dry a few specimens between sheets of pa- 

 per, made principally of cloth, after a little of their moisture 

 has been evaporated by contact with the air. This, however, 

 requires some care, to prevent decay from superabundant 

 moisture. The other is to form careful sections of the difl'erent 

 parts, so as to exhibit the several characters, removing from 

 the pileus and stem the greater part of the substance. If too 

 many species are not put together in the drying-papers, ex- 

 cellent specimens may be made in this way. The spores may 

 be collected on white or black paper by merely placing a por- 

 tion of the pileus wdth its hymenium upon it, and covering 

 the whole for a few hours with a bell-glass. 



The specimens, when dry, must be washed carefully with a 

 solution of corrosive sublimate in pyroligneous naphtha, or 

 some other solvent, taking care that it is such as will not 



o 2 



