THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. §5 



of health requiring me to relax my studies and to spend a good 

 deal of time in the open air, I followed his advice, and have 

 gathered fiom a good many places in Victoria. Besides Kew, 

 Bulleen, Doncaster, and Box Hill, in my own neighbourhood, I 

 "have visited, to the south-east, Brighton, Cheltenham, Mentone, 

 Mordialloc, Oakleigh, Beaconsfield, Warragul, Glenmaggie, 

 Maifra, and Sale ; to the east, Ringwood, Croydon, Lilydale, 

 Fernshaw, Black Spur, and Warburton ; to the north, Kilmore 

 and Traawool ; to the north-west, Gisborne and Macedon ; and 

 to the west, Little River, the You Yangs, Birregurra, Lome, 

 Lismore, Camperdown, Cobden, Terang, and Warrnambool. 

 My collection from these places numbers, I dare say, ten thou- 

 sand specimens, which I have classified into about a thousand 

 species and varieties, although I have not yet succeeded in 

 naming more than a hundred and fifty. There are certainly 

 many more species and varieties than a thousand in Victoria — 

 probably as many more — and no doubt many of them will be 

 quite new to science. Here is a field for the exercise of 

 youthful energy and scientific enthusiasm. 



Nothing can be simpler than the collection and preservation 

 of lichens. A strong knife to cut them from the trees and dead 

 wood, a hammer and mason's chisel to secure saxicole 

 varieties, a few old newspapers in which to wrap the specimens, 

 and a bag to carry them, slung on the back, leaving the hands 

 free for climbing, are sufficient equipment for the field. The 

 only direction needed for a collector is that whatever shows the 

 slightest difference should be considered meanwhile as a 

 variety, and a good number of specimens should be gathered of 

 each, say, a dozen or more. Most lichens can be gathered at 

 any time of the year. The summer, however, is best. A few, 

 which shrink up when dry, are noticed only in wet weather, 

 and it is well to say that the appearance of most lichens is very 

 much altered by moisture. When the specimens are brought 

 home they need merely releasing from their paper bondage, and 

 fastening, with strong glue, to a slip of writing paper, on which 

 the place and time of collecting can be noted, with room for 

 descriptive remarks and drawings of minute details after 

 examination. 



The examination and study of this order of plants is a most 

 fascinating one, and gives scope for the exercise of the keenest 

 perception and the most cautious judgment. It is wise to begin 

 with a typical specimen, having all its parts well developed, 

 especially the circumference of the thallus, or body of the 

 lichen, and the apothecia, or fruit; avoiding monstrosities or 

 abnormal forms until the typical plant is known. Examination 

 is made with the lens, with the microscope, and with chemical 

 re-agents — iodine, hydrate of potash, and chloride of lime. 



