OF THE CHARACE.E. 109 



the specimens to dry up before they are properly laid out, 

 as their brittleness is increased a thousandfold when they 

 have lost their fluids. Hence the necessity of sprinkling 

 them with water on reaching home, if they are to be left 

 for any time before being got ready for the herbarium ; 

 but the best plan is to set about preparing them at once. 



Where the species grow in very deep water or beyond 

 the reach of the arm, it is requisite to employ the double 

 rake, which has been already described at p. 5. If the 

 collector has a boat at his command, it is better, as of 

 course he has so much larger an expanse of water on 

 which to make his experiments ; otherwise he must 

 confine his efforts to the comparatively small area, em- 

 braced by the distance to which his line will reach from 

 the bank. In any case the rake must be allowed to reach 

 the bottom, and then dragged slowly along (if in a boat, 

 the movement of the latter as it floats without the use of 

 oar or paddle, will give sufficient impulse to the rake) 

 until a check is felt, upon which it must be drawn up and 

 the booty secured. It is rare that this little instrument, 

 if made according to the instructions previously given, fails 

 in the services required of it. Of course in fishing in such 

 deep waters, it is impossible to guess what they will yield, 

 and a good deal of worthless stuff will be dragged into the 

 boat. However bright and clear the waters may be, it 

 requires an experienced eye to detect what may be growing 

 at the bottom ; and even that resource is cut off if the 

 slightest wind ruffles the surface. But, generally speaking, 

 the collector will be able to judge pretty well of what he 

 may expect to find by paying attention to the fragments 

 cast on the banks. In places where irrigation is carried on, 

 it is advisable, in the winter and spring when the fields are 

 flooded, to examine the masses of duckweed, sedges, &c. 

 that are scattered about. The chances are, that he will 

 hit upon some minute fragments of Chara, indicating what 

 he may expect to find worth gathering later in the year. 

 Among the Characeae themselves too he will frequently 



