COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION. 289 



valueless for an herbarium, they are not only very ornamental, 

 but useful, if space can be devoted to them. 



Leaf parasites, whether on living or dead leaves, .may be dried 

 in the usual way for drying plants, between folds of bibulous paper 

 under pressure. It may be sometimes necessary with dead leaves 

 to throw them in water, in order that they may be flattened with- 

 out breaking, and then dry them in the same manner as green 

 leaves. All species produced on a hard matrix, as wood, bark, 

 etc., should have as much as possible of the matrix pared away, 

 so that the specimens may lie flat in the herbarium. This is 

 often facilitated in corticolous species by removing the bark and 

 drying it under pressure. 



The dusty Oasteromycetes a,re troublesome, especially the 

 minute species, and if mounted openly on paper are soon spoiled. 

 A good plan is to provide small square or round cardboard 

 boxes, of not more than a quarter of an inch in depth, and 

 to glue the .specimen to the bottom at once, allowing it to 

 dry in that position before replacing the cover. The same 

 method should be adopted for many of the moulds, such as 

 Polyactis, etc., which, under any circumstances, are difficult to 

 preserve. 



In collecting moulds, we have found it an excellent plan to 

 go out provided with small wooden boxes, corked at top and 

 bottom, such as entomologists ' use, and some common pins. 

 When a delicate mould is collected on a decayed Agaric, or any 

 other matrix, after clearing away with a penknife all unnecessary 

 portions of the matrix, the specimen may be pinned down to the 

 cork in one of these boxes. Another method, and one advisable 

 also for the Myxogastres, is to carry two or three pill-boxes, in 

 which, after being wrapped in tissue paper, the specimen may 

 be placed. 



A great difficulty is often experienced with microscopic fungi, 

 such, for instance, as the Sphariacei, in the necessity, whenever 

 a new examination is required, to soak the specimen for some 

 hours, and then transfer the fruit to a slide, before it can be 

 compared with any newly-found specimen that has to be identi- 

 fied. To avoid this, mounted specimens ready for the microscope 



