94 



Mycologia 



gratulated upon the attractive appearance and interesting contents 

 of this number. 



The difficulty of mounting agarics for the herbarium in such a 



way as to prevent them from being crushed, while economizing 



space and maintaining a single series, is recognized by every 



mycological curator. In many herbaria, it is still the practise to 



press all specimens flat and glue them to the sheet or enclose 



them in packets ; in others, a separate box collection is kept for 



the larger specimens, and, when a specimen is wanted, there is 



much confusion and noise before it is found and finally returned 



to its proper place in the sequence. At the New York Botanical 



Garden, several devices have been tried with more or less success, 



the chief objects being to preserve the specimens and to arrange 



them, with all notes and drawings, in one series. 



i 



For large specimens, boxes of different sizes are used, and 

 these are placed in light trays made of tulip wood, or glued to 

 cardboard cut to fit the pigeonholes of the herbarium cases. 

 Small specimens are placed in pill-boxes or similar thin boxes 

 specially designed, which are enclosed in packets, a safer and 

 better way than fastening them directly to the sheet. A very con- 

 venient arrangement for special or odd sizes is a small open box 

 with cardboard bottom and sides of cypress or white pine or cork 

 strips attached with glue, which box is enclosed in a packet. This 

 device is excellent for microscopic slides, which also properly 

 belong in the herbarium series with the specimens. 



The older mycologists mounted their specimens so that they 

 might readily be seen as the sheets were turned, a method with 

 obvious advantages, but, unfortunately, very destructive to the 

 specimens. A rather expensive substitute for this method is the 

 use of envelopes with transparent fronts and boxes with glass or 

 celluloid tops, which might at least be employed for sample sets 

 of species to be used for ready reference in the identification of 

 new material. 



All specimens, however mounted, should be inspected at least 

 once a year, and a small quantity of naphthalene flake added to 

 the boxes or packets in which they are kept in order to prevent 

 invasion by insects. Suggestions from other curators will be 

 welcomed. 



