THE TAXONOMY OF THE AGARICACEAE 
that one set may be distributed with the specimens and the other set 
kept on file for ready reference. At Kew, a splendid set of portfolios 
has recently been made to hold the large number of colored illustrations 
made by Cooke, Massee, and others. In the Fries herbarium at 
Upsala, the drawings are mounted on cardboard and kept in a separate 
case. The advantage of having colored illustrations readily available 
when fresh specimens are brought in for comparison appears at once, 
since characters are then used for determination which disappear when 
the specimens are dried. Herbarium specimens are rarely consulted 
for comparison except with dried material. It may also be desirable 
to know whether there exists in the collection a good illustration of the 
specimen in question so that steps may be taken to fill the gap as new 
collections are brought in. It has been decided to adopt the following 
arrangement with our collection of fleshy fungi : 
1. Keep a set of colored drawings and photographs convenient for 
ready reference. 
2. Keep all other drawings, such as those of sections, spores, etc., 
with the specimens in the herbarium; and prepare a duplicate set of 
photographs and colored drawings for the herbarium whenever 
practicable. 
Water-color paintings should be kept in a perfectly dry, dark 
place. Naphthalene, camphor, and carbon bisulfid are not particu- 
larly harmful to water-colors, but sulfur dioxid, hydrogen sulfid, and 
fumes of ammonia or acids should be carefully guarded against. The 
colors used should be the best and most permanent on the market, and 
each color should be actually tested by the artist if possible before it 
is used. 
The Need of an American Illustrated Work 
While on the subject of color, I wish to remark that one of the 
greatest needs of mycology in this country is a comprehensive illus- 
trated work on the larger fungi. The various countries of Europe are 
well supplied with such works, some of them quite old and very elabor- 
ate. Had it not been for these books, the work of many mycologists 
would have been practically lost or left in such a state as to be more 
or less useless. America has nothing to compare with any of the il- 
lustrated works on fungi in Europe. The; need of such a work is fully 
realized by all; but it would require not only a well-equipped her- 
barium.and library, but also a considerable amount of money, probably 
