APPENDIX ON COLLECTING 35 1 



stem of Angelica, Kumex, or other herbaceous plant. For the 

 minute species the pocket lens will consequently be in 

 requisition, but minute and exhaustive research amongst dead 

 vegetable matter, in damp situations, is almost certain to be 

 well rewarded. 



"We have possibly passed over, in this brief generalisation, 

 small and interesting subsidiary groups, which are technically 

 included under the larger ones, to which attention might have 

 been profitably directed. If we were to advise a young 

 collector as to the course he should pursue with the greatest 

 profit and interest to himself, it would be, that, after making 

 himself generally acquainted with the characteristics of the 

 primary groups, as we have indicated them, he should select 

 for himself a compact family of moderate size, and devote 

 himself to that group alone until he is familiar with all the 

 details ; after this course of practical education, he might with 

 advantage widen his field of operation and extend his patron- 

 age to other groups. By concentration of his thoughts and 

 energies he will be the better able to cope with the difficulties, 

 and master the details, of a comparatively small group, than 

 by attacking a large one. There are several of such groups 

 available — as, for instance, the Uredines, the Ustilagines, the 

 Myxomycetes, the Gastromycetes, or even the Hyphomycetes. 

 In whatever direction his inclination may lead him, the 

 student will find peculiarities, and adaptations of methods of 

 examination and study, applicable to the special objects of 

 his research. In none will he be able to proceed far without 

 the use of the microscope, and we would . strongly urge upon 

 him the necessity of cultivating the .power of the hand in 

 making sketches and drawings, either with or without the use 

 of the camera lucida, or some form of substitute. Accurate 

 drawings, made to scale, of reproductive bodies, structural 

 details, modes of development, and other minutiae will 

 always prove a source of satisfaction in the future, and a help 

 towards progress. 



Finally, we would urge also upon the young and inex- 

 perienced never to rest content with being mere collectors, 

 since the knowledge so obtained is liable to become super- 

 ficial and empirical ; but, on the contrary, to examine for 



