THE SIXTH ANNUAL 
REPORT 
OF THE 
Moss Exchange Club, 
1901 
DISTRIBUTER’S REPORT FOR 1901. 
By J. A. Wheldon, F.L.S. 
The total number of specimens sent for distribution shows a 
considerable increase; but the Hepaticse are again below the 
average, and the number contributed decreases steadily year by 
year. The publication of Mr Macvicar’s “ Key ” in the Journal of 
Botany will probably stimulate interest in this section. Another 
noteworthy feature is the large proportion of Sphagna received. 
We are indebted to Mr. Horrell for a number of fine examples of 
these plants; and also for a series of specimens collected by 
William Wilson, which will have an added interest through their 
association with one of the fathers of British Bryology. 
While the quality of the specimens shows a general improvement, 
several of the Referees have complained not only of the paucity of 
material in a few of the packets, but also of the condition of some 
of the specimens. Some appear to have been packed without 
previous careful drying, or the slightest attempt to remove foreign 
matter; others are badly mixed (so that there is sometimes a pre¬ 
ponderance of plants which are not named on the label); and 
others again are collected at the wrong season of the year for 
properly showing the differential features of the species. 
There is still a tendency to send several gatherings of a species 
in one package. As a rule there should be no difficulty in 
obtaining fifteen or thirty examples in one locality. When seven 
or eight different gatherings are represented in a packet of twelve 
specimens, it enormously increases the labour of the Referees, and 
if this mode of contribution became at all general, it would 
probably result in a complete breakdown of the system of checking 
by Referees. 
