questions now and then. They should know that without the fee and 
subscriptions the weekly exhibitions could not be held; that conse¬ 
quently there would be no material to illustrate the talks; that thus the 
prime efforts of the Club to spread accurate knowledge of mushrooms, 
especially of poisonous kinds, must cease, and this at a time when eager¬ 
ness to gather and devour has become so general that the-CJub ought to 
look upon itself as a life-saving, or better, a death-preventing institution. 
For Providence does not watch over all mycophagists as it seems to over 
the fungivorous Italians. To make our weekly shows more instructive 
and complete, genus cards are now displayed, and the fungi are arranged 
systematically under these, the specific name being added where it is 
certain. This improvement, as in fact almost the entire success of the 
weekly talk system, is due to the planning of Miss Noyes. 
BULLETINS. 
In regard to the bulletins, the issuance of which has been interrupted 
partly by the occupation and partly by the idleness of the usual editor, it 
may be said that there is ground for a strong expectation that they will 
appear in future once in two months. Such is the intention of the pub¬ 
lication committee. The Club can be proud of numbers nine and ten, the 
work, respectively, of Professor Burt and Dr. Daniels. The editor would 
be pleased to receive questions which might be answered in the bulletins, 
for what proves troublesome and interesting to one is likely to be so to 
almost all. The policy of giving brief synopses of groups of species 
likely to be met with will be continued. 
THE HERBARIUM. 
Undoubtedly the most valuable permanent work being accomplished 
by the Club is that which centers in the herbarium. Though it is unfor¬ 
tunately true that this work does not appeal directly to most of the Club 
members, it should yet he looked upon as of the utmost importance. 
United with careful study and with note-taking in the field and from 
plants still fresh, the preservation in the best possible condition of repre¬ 
sentative material has been and always must be the basis of all accurate 
knowledge in regard to any plants. The Club has already the nucleus of 
a good collection of our larger fungi, comprising mainly the species more 
often met with in New England, particularly about Boston, and frequently 
exhibited at Horticultural Hall. In fact, the hall tables are a constant 
and at times the only collecting ground of those in charge of the 
herbarium. 
Drying and Mounting. 
Possibly the treatment and ultimate destination of this material may 
well he noted here. In the first place entire and in every way undamaged 
specimens are, if possible, selected. These are taken to the Club quarters 
at Cambridge, where they are dried, pressed, and preserved in suitable 
packages, and finally mounted on sheets. For the first step in the pro¬ 
cess a drier in the form of a sheet-iron box with open wire shelves is 
used. This box is over two feet wide, a foot and a half deep, and about 
four feet tall. It contains twelve movable shelves of coarse, stout wire 
netting, placed three inches apart. Instead of a fixed top, the box has a 
movable cover, which is usually removed in order to allow the free 
passage of air, admitted by holes on all sides at the bottom, up through 
the shelves. There is also no bottom to the box, which is set over a 
