(4o) 



(a) Synoptic Collection. This is designed to illustrate 

 the plant world. A series of characteristic objects is 

 installed as a basis for illustrating each plant-family. 

 These specimens are accompanied as far as possible by 

 plates, drawings or photographs, while on the shelves are 

 arranged additional objects, such as flowers, fruits, woods* 

 specimens of fossil plants, and models of various organs of 

 plants, all intended further to illustrate the structural 

 characteristics of the different groups. This collection is 

 arranged according to the most natural and thus far most 

 generally satisfactory interpretation of the interrelation of 

 the plant-families; it may be considered as falling into 

 two main series, namely, the flowerless or spore-bearing 

 plants and the flowering or seed-bearing plants. 



The flowerless plants fall into three phyla or subkingdoms : 

 (i) the Thallophyta, in which the plant-body is not dif- 

 ferentiated into stems and leaves, as represented by the 

 slime-moulds, the bacteria and other micro-organisms, 

 the seaweeds, the fungi, and the lichens (2) the Bryophyta, 

 represented by the mosses and their immediate relatives; 

 and (3) the Pteridophyta, including the ferns and the 

 fern-allies. 



The Thallophyta (cases 1 to 36), may be defined as 

 plants without true roots, stems, or leaves; but notwith- 

 standing their simple structure they exhibit an infinite 

 variety of form and color. 



The Myxomycetes or slime-moulds (case 1), standing 

 at the bottom of the plant-scale, occupy the first exhibition 

 case placed at the right hand side of the stairway from 

 the main floor. They are thallophytes, having neither 

 chlorophyl nor (in their vegetative condition) a cell-wall. 

 These very simply constituted plants usually grow upon 

 and derive their nourishment from decaying organic sub- 

 stances. They vary greatly in size, some being exceedingly 

 minute, others assuming the form of relatively large ir- 

 regularly shaped masses spreading in all directions as they 

 grow. Most of the plants are small, and the structure is 



