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Report on Botany. 



are scattered through various magazines, reports and jour- 

 nals, some of which are foreign and not easily accessible 

 or procurable. Some are in Latin only and hence una- 

 vailable to many, some were written in the earlier days 

 of the science when microscopes were thought less neces- 

 sary than now, consequently the spore characters, often 

 very important ones, are entirely omitted, some are so 

 brief that they scarcely serve to distinguish the species in 

 a satisfactory manner. 



Such are some of the hindrances to the study of my- 

 cology, but instead of operating as discouragements they 

 should act as incentives. Is the field a broad one, there is 

 space for more laborers ; is the work surrounded by special 

 difficulties, there is opportunity for the exercise of special 

 talents ; has it been passed by and neglected, there are more 

 favorable chances for usefulness, for new discoveries and 

 new additions to our stock of knowledge. It is not the 

 simplest problems that engage the attention of the earnest 

 mathematician, not the most monotonous landscapes that 

 give the most pleasure to the beholder, neither is that 

 science the most attractive that requires in its pursuits 

 but feeble exertion and the exercise of but few of our 

 faculties. In the numerous inquiries for mycological works, 

 in the frequent requests for aid in determining species of 

 fungi and for information upon various matters connected 

 with their study, we think we have sure indications of a 

 growing interest in this branch of botanical science and of 

 the rise of a corps of students and investigators, who will 

 do. much toward overcoming all difficulties and placing the 

 mycology of this country in a far more satisfactory condi- 

 tion than that in which we now find it. 



