8 
for several weeks with naphthalene before removal to the her- 
barium. Agarics, because of their perishable nature, are dried 
before treatment. No naphthalene is used in t the regular collec- 
tion and none appears to be necessary, as I did not find a single 
insect in his entire herbarium, and not one has appeared in the 
thousand packets of fungi obtained from him for our collection. 
Lars Romell, of Stockholm, follows Bresadola in the use of 
naphthalene and has no use whatever for sublimate, claiming that 
specimens are worthless unless recognizable. e frequently 
places infected agarics under a belljar with chloroform on return- 
ing from the field, in order to kill the insects before drying the 
specimens. 
The value of this immense collection of fungi can hardly be 
overestimated. From a purely botanical standpoint, it is highly 
-important that original and representative specimens of all groups 
of plants be thus preserved for the purposes of reference and com- 
parison ; and, since questions of origin, distribution and variation 
always enter into studies of classification, it is desirable to have 
these collections as complete as possible. From the standpoint 
of applied botany, the vast number of destructive plant diseases 
caused by fungi relate this subject very intimately with horticul- 
ture, agriculture, forestry and allied sciences. The damage done 
in this country by wheat rust alone amounts to pe billions of 
the importance of the fungi in relation to forestry, both as regards 
the host of destructive forest diseases already known and those 
that may yet be discovered. 
Aside from the fthis collection by systematic botanists, plant 
pathologists and foresters, there is a large and increasing interest 
in fungi by the plant-loving public, drawn by fondness for the 
forms, or by their extensive use as fo ei To all these, the col- 
lection “affords the keenest pleasure and offers opportunities for 
further knowledge and enjoyment. 
