BULLfeTIN 3'9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [26] 



label in tlie field insert it also. With grasses and all narrow-leaved 

 platitS it is best to gather them into a straight wisp and cut them with 

 %, knif6 into sections ^bout 6 inches long. These will make herbarium 

 Specimens of Convenient size and are easy to tie up and pack away 

 tightly in the box. In case of plants with small leaves, sprays of a 

 suitable size (4 to 6 inches long) may be cut with the knife and tied up 

 in a bunch. Large leaves may be cut into smaller sizes. A leaf over G 

 inches square is usually best cut up. In case of small specimens, which 

 may be lost or scattered, they should be wrai)ped up in paper or in a 

 large leaf or else put into envelopes. Small fragile things, such as 

 slime-molds {Myxomycetes), may be put into pill boxes. 



In regard to the quantit^^ of duplicates of each number, the collector 

 must of course depend largely upon his judgment. Botanists usually 

 secure greater quantities of a rare fungus or one in unusually fine con- 

 dition than of the common things. Where it is the object to secure a 

 certain number of sets, it is of course desirable to collect sufficient of 

 each for that purpose. In case of fungi, a single infected leaf may be 



. made to constitute a specimen, but it is better to count about three or 

 four average sized leaves as a specimen, and if sparsely affected, more, 



. and one or two of the sprays of small leaves. 



In collecting fungi try to get the parasite on as many different parts 

 of the host as it can be found. Do not be satisfied at finding it on the 

 leaves alone, but get it on the stems, flowers, and fruits if it occurs 



. there. Some fungi produce their different forms on different parts of 



1 their host. Others again produce these different forms on different 

 Lhosts, and the skilled mycologist will keep an eye out for .the associ- 

 ?ated host plants and their fungi. 



Upon your return home the specimens are to be put into press. Most 

 leaf fungi will keep in the tin box for a day or two in a cool place without 

 injury, but since others will scarcely keep overnight, it is best to put 

 them in press as soon as possible. For this purpose a supply of driers 

 and thin paper are needed of the same quality and size as that used in 

 pressing flowering plants. The folded sheets of thin paper will be found 

 better for fungi than the single sheets, because it is easier with them 

 to keep the leaves from falling out of the packages. The packages of 

 fungi are taken from the box and, if not labeled before, are labeled. 

 'The leaves are spread out over the sheet of pressing i^aper until it is 

 completely covered. If there are still more of the same number, an- 

 other sheet is taken until all are in the papers. These extra sheets 

 ■should receive the same number as the first, and should always be kept 

 iiext to it in all the subsequent changes of driers. Another number is 

 then taken out and treated in the same way. Never put specimens of 

 two different numbers in the same sheet. The pile is pressed and dried 

 precisely the same as in flowering plants. In case of some of larger 

 and more delicate forms, like ^cidia (cluster cups) and EcestilicWf it will 



