78 TWENTY-SEVENTH REPORT ON THE STATE MUSEUM. 



arranged that specimens may be kept separate and protected 

 from the injury of mutual pressure, is sometimes recom- 

 mended. Envelopes or folded paper pockets are convenient 

 for the reception of the minute species that inhabit herb 

 stems, twigs, bark, etc., as much time and labor is saved by 

 keeping each species in a wrapper by itself. Leaf specimens 

 may also be placed in similar wrappers, or in some small port- 

 folio or book that can be conveniently carried. A pocket lens, 

 a stout sharp knife, a lead pencil and a memorandum book 

 should always be carried on collecting excursions. The 

 habitat of every species should be carefully noted, and any 

 new, remarkable or interesting fact be at once entered in the 

 memorandum book. Of the fleshy putrescent fungi, full de- 

 scriptions of the fresh plant are desirable whenever practi-' 

 cable, unless it be a known species. 



Fungi are so diverse in character, that the same mode of 

 treatment is not applicable to all. The fleshy perishable 

 species, such as the Agarici. Boleti, etc., are the most difficult 

 to preserve. The most convenient method of preserving them 

 is by drying ; putting them in alcoholic or other preservative 

 solutions being expensive and requiring too much space. 

 They should not at first be placed in a press. They may be 

 exposed to the full rays of the sun, or placed under or near a 

 stove in which a fire is kept burning, but care must be taken 

 not to heat them so much as to discolor them. The best suc- 

 cess is generally attained when the process of drying is slow 

 but continuous. It is sometimes better, however, to dry them 

 as rapidly as possible without burning, in order to prevent 

 decomposition and injury from the larvae of insects. The 

 Coprini or inky fungi, which are especially difficult to dry 

 well, on account of the rapid deliquescence of the lamellae, are 

 sometimes successfully treated by suspending them in a sunny 

 exposure in the open air. After they have been thoroughly 

 dried, they may, at any convenient time, be exposed to the 

 moist air of a rainy day, dewy night, or damp cellar, until 

 they are flexible enough to be pressed into proper shape to lie 

 well on the herbarium sheets. This slight moisture may be 

 abstracted, and the proper shape made permanent, by placing 

 the specimens in any ordinary plant press for a short time. 

 Fungi of a dry or coriaceous texture may be placed in the 

 plant press without previous drying, but even these often 



