MYC0L0G1CAL NOTES 
C. G. LLOYD 
Page 1029 
his cult by such a condescension to the hoi polloi. 
Brand me if you will as an upstart who "had better get dry 
behind the ears before he presumes to criticize his elders" but 
unless your pamphlets belie your true character you will agree that 
I voice the sentiments of hundreds, yes, thousands who have taken 
up this fascinating study, some of whom will perhaps render a good 
account of themselves, beginners whose "aching heads and exhausted 
patience" is proof of weeks, months and even years of absolutely 
wasted time and effort, energy that was wasted for lack of descrip¬ 
tions that describe not confuse . 
Lucidity, simplicity and directness in mycological 
literature, is in need of champions to break down the old hide¬ 
bound traditions. In your treatment of the Gastromycetes you have 
"did your bit" and gained the esteem of those who need help . even 
if you did not gain the approval of the mycological Pharisees. Let 
us hope that your treatment of the Polyporii will be another blow 
at the "Beckmesser method. " 
I regret that you were unable to supply me with your works 
on the Geastreae and Lycoperdaceae, but will live in the hope that 
fortune may some day favor me and place them in my hands. 
Again I thank-you for your kindness. If I can repay you 
in any manner, command me. 
Yours respectfully, 
W. R. Lowater. 
COLLECTION NOTES 
Although we are very much behind with our correspondence 
and reports on specimens received, we have neglected the work 
since the first of August. We must ask the indulgence of our friends 
until after the close of the season. Rarely do we have such a fine 
fungus season around Cincinnati as this year. The woods are full 
of fungi and we can take a basket and collect more in a day than 
we can work over in a week. There are so many groups that we know 
so little about and are anxious to learn. For instance, Hypocreas, 
Hypoxylons, Porias, resupinate Thelephoraceae and many others. 
Many of them we are unable to get names for but we can collect them, 
and photograph them and they may work out in time. To learn fungi 
right one must study them as they grow, and I am satisfied that if 
one were familiar enough with them he could recognize at sight almost 
every fungus, including the resupinate Thelephoraceae and even the 
Myxomycetes. They must first be studied and learned with the 
microscope, but there is a great deal of unnecessary work done by 
those who study only the dried specimens. 
There ought to be a practical collection book with which 
a student could go to the woods and observe and name the fungi he 
finds. But there is none, and probably there never will be as long 
as the energies of those who work on the subject are chiefly direct¬ 
ed to hunting for "new species." 
t 
