246 



Mycologia 



put in the bag in the field. By the time one is ready to study the 

 specimen at home a good print will probably have formed. To 

 be satisfactory, a thick layer of spores should have fallen and 

 the color should always be described from such a layer, as other- 

 wise ochraceous spores may seem pale when only a few have 

 fallen. If only a scattering of spores can be obtained, one may 

 scrape some up with the point of a knife and rub them off in 

 mass on the paper. The spore print should then be folded and 

 either pinned to the description or placed in a small envelope 

 bearing the collection number. Before the print has been kept 

 very long the color should be named according to some standard 

 of color nomenclature, since the spore color may change in time, 

 although if a fixative has not been used there is less danger of 

 this. 



There are some general suggestions which may be given. Not 

 only is it important to keep collections in the field distinct, but 

 they must not be mixed during the drying process. They should 

 be tagged with the identification number before placing on the 

 drying screen. As soon as they are thoroughly dried each col- 

 lection should be wrapped or boxed. I have found that speci- 

 mens properly dried and taken care of in this manner keep per- 

 fectly without the addition of naphthalene. In any case it is pre- 

 ferable not to add the naphthalene until after the specimens have 

 been identified, as it obscures any natural odor which the plants 

 may have. In regard to odor, one should examine the mush- 

 rooms in the field, when drying, and after they are dried to 

 detect any characteristic odor. 



It is a mistake to assume upon a glance in the field that one 

 group of Russula is the same as another taken in some other place 

 or at another time and to limit the description of it to " the same 

 as No. x," since one may be mild, the other acrid ; one may have 

 white spores, the other yellow spores ; one may have persistently 

 white flesh, the other flesh changing from red to gray or merely to 

 gray. Neither is it a good plan to make a composite description 

 of a lot of fresh mushrooms assuming them to be the same. 

 Each collection should have its own description and if all the 

 descriptions agree in the essential points and the fresh mushrooms 



