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a dozen such specimens can often be made and put away in as many minutes ; 
if the plants are covered with mud, scorched up by the sun or overgrown by 
half a dozen other species so that it is somewhat doubtful just what the 
number relates to, all the better, apparently, from some points of view, for 
such conditions are surely apt to cause doubt in determining, even if they do 
not bring forth various quite new names. 
Now, from these remarks, please do not think for a moment that the 
writer wishes to discourage in any way the collecting of mosses, but in look- 
ing over most large collections it is quite evident that the majority of speci- 
mens are in such poor shape that if the condition of the leaves, flowers and 
fruits was as readily seen us in the ordinary flowering plants, the merest 
tyro in collecting would have been apt to look about for better specimens to 
fairly represent the species and to preserve for future study. 
By way of illustration I may mention that in looking over between 
seventy-five and one hundred specimens of Dicranowezsia crispula (all 
collected in Europe by the way), there were not, apparently, three specimens 
that had been obtained at just the proper time, namely, when the mature 
capsules were just beginning to open. The same conditions hold in various 
species of Dicz'anum. It was often necessary to examine dozens of speci- 
mens before finding one that was in any where near a perfect condition. It 
would appear that usually the first lot of specimens observed by the collec- 
tor are the ones preserved, yet I think 1 am not overstating the case in 
saying that nine times out of ten the first obtained, even if fruiting, are apt 
to be either too old or too young, and not unfrequently one has to wait over 
two or three years in some regions to find a given species in the best shape, 
although it may fruit, or attempt to fruit, each year. Certainly it is always 
well, if time permits, to look about for more and better specimens, for 
mature fruit, for flowers, for fine sterile tufts of nearly anything and every- 
thing you may run across, and it will be found, often, not an easy but a 
rather difficult matter to get the best, although the prize, I believe, is always 
worth the trouble. Of course, when traveling, many specimens must be 
obtained “on the fly” or not at all, and these may be very valuable. So 
do not neglect such but be sure to always look for the best and an abundance 
of it when possible. New York Botanical Garden. 
