COLLECTION; PRESERVATION, USES, ETC. 25 



only be obtained by observing a large number of grow- 

 ing specimens. 



A few general observations, the result of a long ap- 

 prenticeship, may, however, be useful. The dress of a 

 zealous collector should consist of as few and as coarse, 

 unspoilable garments as possible, for he will most pro- 

 bably get more or less wet, even if he be not tempted to 

 wade ; he should be furnished with one or two small tin 

 botanical boxes, a couple of broad-mouthed, two-ounce, 

 boxwood-topped bottles, an oyster-knife, a good stout 

 walking-stick, a pocket lens, and a penknife. 



Where there is an option, it is well to start for the 

 shore so as to arrive there about an hour before low 

 water, and to follow the sea as it recedes. All the pre- 

 cious moments of the extreme ebb of the tide should 

 be devoted to searching the furthest rocks that can 

 be reached, as it is on these that the most delicate 

 rare weeds, particularly of the Red series, grow. The 

 more patient the search, the greater will be the reward. 

 Every pool, creek, cave, and overhanging or perpen- 

 dicular rock, should be carefully examined; all large, 

 coarse weeds should be pushed aside, or removed, so 

 as to reveal any of the smaller species that may be 

 sheltered beneath them, or may grow parasitically on 

 their roots, stems, and fronds. It is important, when 

 circumstances permit, to obtain the whole plant with 

 the root attached, and, in the case of the larger species, 

 which it is impossible to preserve entire in any ordinary 

 herbarium, the specimens should be so arranged as to 

 include all the parts, from the root upwards if possible, 

 and to exhibit the character and mode of growth, — the 

 mere fragments of the upper branches, which are some- 

 times collected, being comparatively worthless for all 



