6o 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
a downright waste of time for the ordinary botanist to make a 
general herbarium. The collection mania is one of the first in- 
dications of a scientific bent and must be indulged ; but it is well 
to confine the collection within certain sensible bounds. If you 
are making a "dead set" at the flora of your region, make an her- 
barium specimen of every species, sub-species and form encount- 
ered and to these add related species from adjacent districts by 
exchange. If you are interested in certain families of plants, col- 
lect not only every species and form, belonging to that family, but 
the fruit and roots and seed, also. Make other specimens to show 
each species in all important stages from seedling to maturity and 
get by exchange the same species from as many distant points as 
possible. If interested more in the esthetical side of botany, a 
small herbarium consisting principally of the showy or curious 
flowers, fruits and leaves of your locality will be excellent. The 
great collections are still none too rich in rare plants and their 
curators will be glad of such specimens as you may find ; but it is 
worse than useless to go on collecting all sorts of common plants 
and adding other common plants by exchange for the sake of hav- 
ing a large herbarium. Better, far, a small herbarium well studi- 
ed, than a large one upon which the dust continues to collect. 
C. H. Bissell and Luman Andrews have recaitly issued a 
very creditable "Flora of the Town of Southington, Conn., and 
its Vicinity," which is published by the State Board of Education. 
The area covered is about 36 square miles and the authors find 
1,200 difYerent species growing without cultivation, a very large 
number in comparison with similar areas elsewhere. 
