IRLF 
 
 B 3 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
COLLECTING 4ND PRESERVING. 
 
NOTES ON 
 
 COLLECTING AND PRESERVING 
 
 NATUBAL-HISTOBY OBJECTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 J. E. TATLOB, F.L.S., F.G.S. 
 
 K F. ELWIN. 
 
 THOS. SOUTHWELL, F.Z.S. 
 
 DK, KNAGGS. 
 
 E.C. RYE, F.Z.S. 
 
 J. B. BfilDGMAN. 
 
 PROFESSOR RALPH TATE, F.G.S. 
 JAS. BRITTEN, F.L.S. 
 PROFESSOR BUCKJIAN, F.G-S. 
 DR. BRAITHWAITE, F.L.S. 
 
 "VVOUTHINGTON G. SMITH, F.L.&. 
 
 REV. JAS. CROMBIE, F.L5. 
 
 W. H. GRATTANN. 
 EDITED BY 
 
 J. E. TAYLOR, PHD., F.L.S., F..S., &c. 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 H ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE. S.W. 
 
 1883. 
 (All rights reserved.) 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 THE following Essays were originally contributed 
 to the pages of ' Science-Gossip/ by the various 
 writers whose names they bear. From the constant 
 queries relating to subjects of this kind, it was 
 deemed advisable to furnish young or intending 
 naturalists with such trustworthy information as 
 would enable them to save time, and gain by the 
 experience of others. For this purpose, the articles 
 have been collected in their present portable form 
 as a Handbook for beginners. 
 
 May, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS, BY J. E. TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 BONES, BY E. F. ELWIN .......... 16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 BIRDS' EGGS, BY T. SOUTHWELL, F.Z.S ....... 27" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS, BY DR. KNAGGS . .. 44 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 BEETLES, BY E. C RYE, F.Z.S ......... 67. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 HYMENOPTERA, BY J. B. BRIDGMAX .. .. .. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHKLLS, BY PROFESSOR RALPH 
 
 TATE, F.G.S ............. 102. 
 
Yin CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PACK 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS, BY J. BRITTEN, F.L.S. 
 
 (First Part) 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS, BY J. BRITTEN, F.L.S. 
 
 (Second Part) 131 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 GRASSES, &c., BY PROFESSOR BUCKMAN, F.G.S. .. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 .MOSSES, BY DR. BRAITHWAITE, F.L.S. .. .. .. 145 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ;FUNGI, BY WORTHINGTON G. SMITH, F.L.S. .. .. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 LICHENS, BY REV. JAMES CROMBIE, F.L.S. .. .. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 SEAWEEDS, BY W. II. GRATTANN 195 
 
 JSDEX 209 
 

 COLLECTING AND PRESERVING. 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 BY J. E. TAYLOR, F.L.S., F.G.S. 
 
 THE great end of natural-history reading should be 
 the development of a love for the objects dwelt upon, 
 and a desire to know more about them. This can 
 only be brought about by such practical acquaintance 
 as collecting and preserving them induces. At the 
 same time we should be sorry to see our young 
 readers degenerate into mere collectors! It is a 
 great mistake to suppose, that because you have a 
 full cabinet of butterflies, moths, or beetles, there- 
 fore you are a good entomologist ; or that you may 
 lay claim to a distinguished position as a geologist, 
 on account of drawers full of fossils and minerals. 
 But this is a mistake into which young naturalists 
 frequently fall. We nave seen people with decided 
 tastes for these studies never get beyond the mere 
 collecting. In that case they stand on a par with 
 
 B 
 
2 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 collectors of postage-stamps. Nor is there much 
 gained, even if you become acquainted with English, 
 or even Latin, names of natural-history objects. 
 Many people can catalogue them glibly, and never 
 make a slip, and yet they are practically ignorant of 
 the real knowledge which clusters round each object, 
 and its relation to others. Both Latin and English 
 
 O 
 
 names are useful and even necessary ; but when you 
 have simply learnt them, and nothing more, how 
 much wiser are you than before ? No, let the learn- 
 ing of names be the alphabet of science the means 
 by which you can acquire a further knowledge of its 
 mysteries. It would be just as reasonable to set up 
 for a literary man on the strength of accurately 
 knowing the alphabet, as to imagine you are a 
 scientific man the moment you have learned by 
 heart a few scores of Latin names of plants, fossils, 
 or insects! Let each object represent so much 
 knowledge, to which the very mention of its name 
 will immediately conjure up a crowd of associations, 
 relationships, and intimate acquaintances, and you 
 will then see what a store of real knowledge may 
 be represented in a carefully-arranged cabinet. 
 
 The heading of the present articles will have in- 
 dicated the subject chosen for brief treatment. We 
 shall never forget the influence left by reading 
 such charming and suggestive books as Mantell's 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 3 
 
 * Medals of Creation,' many years ago. Our mind had 
 been prepared for the enthusiasm which this little 
 book produced by the perusal of Page's ' Intro- 
 ductory Text-book,' Phillips's 'Guide to Geology,' 
 and several others of a similar character. But we 
 know of none which impels a young student to go 
 into the field and hammer out fossils for himself, 
 like Dr. Mantell's works. It is impossible not to 
 catch the enthusiasm of his nature. The first place 
 we sallied out to, on our maiden geological trip, was 
 a heap of coal-shale, near a pit's mouth, in the 
 neighbourhood of Manchester. Our only weapon 
 was a common house hammer, for we then knew 
 nothing of the technical forms which geological fancy 
 so often assumes. We had passed that same heap of 
 coal-shale hundreds of times, without suspecting it to 
 be anything more than everybody else considered it 
 viz. a heap of rubbish. Why that particular spot was 
 selected, we cannot now say. We had seen illustra- 
 tions of carboniferous plants, shells, &c., in books, 
 but we seemed to imagine their discovery could only 
 be effected by scientific men, and that it required a 
 good deal oi knowledge before one should attempt 
 to find them. Suffice it to say we made the pil- 
 grimage to the coal-shale heap in pretty much the 
 same mind as we should expect to get the head prize 
 in some fine-art drawing. The humble hammer was 
 
 B 2 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 put into use, for a brief time without much effect, as 
 we 'could hardly have commenced on a more barren 
 kind of shale than we had chanced to hit upon. 
 We imagined we could perceive traces of leaves and 
 slender stems, but were afraid to trust our eyes. At 
 any rate, there was nothing definite enough to raise 
 our enthusiasm. But by-and-by, as the hammer 
 kept cleaving open the thin leaf-like layers of shale, 
 there appeared a large portion of that most beautiful 
 of all fossil plants, the Lepidodendron. Those who 
 are familiar with this object, with its lozenge-shaped 
 markings running spirally up the stem, will readily 
 understand the outburst of pleasure which escaped 
 our lips ! That was the first real fossil a pleasure 
 quite equivalent to that of landing the first salmon. 
 How carefully was it wrapped in paper, and carried 
 home in the pocket ! There never was, and never 
 will be, another fossil in the world as beautiful as 
 that insignificant fragment of Lepidodendron. 
 
 We have seen a good many converts made to 
 geology in a similar manner, since first we laid open 
 to the light this silent memorial of ages which have 
 passed away. Let a man have ever so slight ac- 
 quaintance with geology, and give him the chance of 
 hammering out a fossil for himself, and the odds are 
 you thereby make him a geologist for life. There 
 is something almost romantic in the idea that you 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 5 
 
 are looking for the first time, and have yourself 
 disentombed the remains of creatures which probably 
 lived scores of millions of years ago ! We would 
 strongly advise our readers, therefore, not to fall into 
 the error of supposing that fossil-hunting belongs to 
 highly-trained geologists. On the contrary, it is by 
 fossil-hunting alone that you can ever hope to be a 
 geologist yourself. Another mistake often made, is 
 that of supposing these rich and interesting geo- 
 logical localities are at a distance. It seems so hard 
 to suppose, after reading about typical sections. &c., 
 that under your very feet, in the fields where you 
 have so often played, there occur geological pheno- 
 mena of no less interest. But it is actually surprising 
 what evidences of our earth's great antiquity, in the 
 shape of fossils, &c., may be studied and obtained in 
 the most out-of-the-way and insignificant places. 
 
 You say you have no rocks in your neighbourhood 
 nothing but barren sands, or beds of brick-earth 
 or clay, Well, go to some section of the latter, 
 exposed, perhaps, in some tarn or stagnant pond in 
 a turnip-field. You examine the sides, and what do 
 you see? Nothing, but here and there a boulder- 
 stone sticking out. Well, be content with that. 
 You said you had no rocks in your neighbourhood ; 
 how, then, has that boulder, which is a rounded 
 fragment of a rock broken off from somewhere 
 
6 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 how has it come there ? Here is a poser at once. 
 Examine it, and you will perhaps see that its hard 
 surface is polished or scratched, and then you re- 
 member the theory of icebergs, and feel astonished 
 to think that you hold in your hand an undeniable 
 proof of the truth of that theory. Those very 
 scratchings could have been produced in no other 
 way ; that foreign fragment of a rock now only to be 
 found on some distant mountain-side could have been 
 conveyed in no other manner. Not content with the 
 exterior examination, you break the boulder-stone 
 open, when you may chance to find it is a portion of 
 silurian, carboniferous or oolitic limestone, and that it 
 contains fossils belonging to one of those formations. 
 Here is a find an object with a double interest 
 turning up where you never expected to discover the 
 slightest geological incident ! You examine other 
 boulders, and find in them general evidences of 
 ice-action in their present re- deposit ion, and most 
 instructive lessons as to the nature of rocks of various 
 formations, from the granite and trap series to the 
 fossiliferous deposits. In fact, there is no place like 
 one of these old boulder-pits for making oneself 
 acquainted with petrology, or the nature of stones. 
 
 And now, as to the tools necessary to the young 
 geologist. First of all, he cannot take too few ! It 
 is a great mistake to imagine that a full set of 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 scientific instruments makes a scientific man. The 
 following hammers, intended for different purposes, 
 ought to be procured. Fig. 1 is an exceedingly 
 useful weapon, and one we commonly use, to the 
 exclusion of all others. It is handy for breaking off 
 fragments of rock for ex- 
 amination ; and, if fossils 
 be included in them, for 
 trimning the specimens 
 for cabinet purposes. As 
 a rule, however, field geo- 
 logists are always divided 
 over the merits of their 
 hammers, some prefer- 
 ring one shape and some 
 another. Fig. 2 is gene- 
 rally used for breaking 
 up hard rocks, for which 
 the bevel - shaped head 
 is peculiarly adapted. It 
 is usually much heavier 
 than the rest, and is seldom used except for specific 
 purposes. If our readers are inclined to study 
 sections of boulder clay, and wish to extract the 
 rounded and angular boulder from its stiff matrix, 
 they cannot do better than use a hammer like 
 Fig. 3. This is sometimes called the " Platypus " 
 
 Pocket Trim- 
 ming-hammer. 
 
 Duck's-head 
 Hammer. 
 
8 
 
 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 pick. Both ends can be used, and the pick end is 
 also good for working on soft rocks, like chalk. A 
 little practice in the field will teach the student 
 how to use these tools, and when, much better than 
 we can describe on paper. The hammers can be 
 
 obtained from any scien- 
 tific instrument manu- 
 facturer, or from a^iy oi 
 the dealers in geologi- 
 cal specimens. We have 
 found that the best Ham- 
 mers for usage, however, 
 were to be made out oi 
 an old file, softened and 
 well welded, rolled, and 
 then hammered into a 
 solid mass. If properly 
 tempered a hammer made 
 in this fashion will last 
 you your life. 
 So much for the rougher weapons of geological 
 strife. Next, be sure and provide yourself with 
 thick-soled shoes or boots. Geological study will take 
 you into a good many queer places, wet and dry, 
 rough and smooth, and it is absolutely necessary 
 to be prepared for the worst. Patent leather boots 
 and kid gloves are rarely worn by practical geo- 
 
 *' Platypus " Pick for clay, &c. 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 9 
 
 logists. And we have heard it remarked at the 
 British Association meetings, that they could always 
 tell which members belonged to the Geological Sec- 
 tion by their thick-soled boots. A similar remark 
 applies to clothes. The student need not dress 
 for the quarry as he would for the dining room. 
 Good, strong, serviceable material ought to be their 
 
 Secondly, as to the student's comforts and neces- 
 saries. These are generally the last thing an ardent 
 naturalist thinks about. For ourselves, however, we 
 give him ample leave to provide himself with pipe 
 and tobacco, should his tastes lie in that direction. 
 We never enjoyed a pipe half so much as when 
 solitarily disinterring organic remains which had 
 slumbered in the heart of the rock for myriads of 
 ages. As to the leer, we can vouch that it never 
 tastes anything like so good as during a geological 
 excursion. 
 
 We have found the leathern bags sold for school- 
 book purposes to be as handy to deposit specimens 
 in, during a journey, as anything else. They have 
 the merit of being cheap, are strong, and easily 
 carried. If not large enough, then get a strong, 
 coarse linen havresack, like that worn by volunteers 
 on a field clay. Paper, cotton wadding (not wool), 
 sawdust for fragments of larger fossils, intended to 
 
10 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 be repaired at home, wooden pill-boxes, and a few 
 boxes, which may be obtained from any practical 
 naturalist, with glass tops, are sufficient " stock-in- 
 trade " for the young geologist. The wadding does 
 not adhere to the specimens as wool does, and the 
 glass-topped boxes are useful, as it is not then 
 necessary to open a box and disinter a delicate fossil 
 from its matrix in order to look at it. Add a good 
 strong pocket lens, such as may be bought for half-a- 
 crown, and your equipment will be complete. If you 
 intend to study any particular district, get the sheets 
 published by the Geological Survey. These will 
 give you, on a large scale, the minute geology of 
 the neighbourhood, the succession of rocks, faults, 
 outcrops, &c. In fact, you may save yourself a 
 world of trouble by thus preparing yourself a week 
 or so before you make your geological excursion. 
 iThe pith of these remarks applies with equal force if 
 you purpose, first of all, to examine the neighbour- 
 hood in which you live. Don't do so until you have 
 read all that has been written about it, and examined 
 all the available maps and sections. This advice 
 however, applies more particularly to geological ex- 
 amination of strata. If you are bent chiefly on 
 paldBortological investigation, that is, on the study 
 of fossils, perhaps it will be best iust to read any 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 11 
 
 published remarks you may have access -to, and 
 then boldly take the field for yourself. In addition 
 to a hammer, we would advise the young student 
 to take a good narrow-pointed steel chisel, and a 
 putty-knife. The former is very useful for work- 
 ing round, and eventually obtaining, any fossil 
 that may have been weathered into relief. The 
 latter is equally serviceable for clayey rocks or 
 shales. 
 
 In arranging the spoils of these excursions for the 
 cabinet, a little care and taste are required. We 
 will suppose you to possess one of those many- 
 drawered cabinets which can now be obtained so 
 cheaply. Begin at the bottom, so that the lowest 
 drawers represent the lowest-seated and oldest rocks, 
 and the uppermost the most recent. If possible,, 
 have an additional cabinet for local geology, and 
 never forget that the first duty of a collector is to 
 have his own district well represented ! A com- 
 pass of a few miles will, in most cases, enable him to- 
 get a store of fossils or minerals which cannot well 
 be obtained elsewhere. Supposing he is desirous of 
 having the geological systems well represented, he 
 can always do so by the insertion of such paragraphs 
 as those which appear in the Exchange columns of 
 ' Science Gossip.' It is by well and thoroughly 
 
12 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 working separate localities in this fashion that the 
 science of geology is best advanced. You hear a 
 good deal about the "missing links," and it is an 
 accepted fact that we, perhaps, do not know a tithe 
 of the organic remains that formerly enjoyed life 
 Who knows, therefore, but that if you exhaust your 
 district by the assiduous collection of fossils, you 
 may not come across such new forms as may settle 
 many moot points in ancient and modern natural 
 history? The genuine love of geological study is 
 always pretty fairly manifested in a student's 
 cabinet. Science, like charity, begins at home. 
 It impels a man to seek and explain that which 
 is nearest to him, before he attempts the elucidation 
 of what really lies in another man's territory ! 
 
 It is not necessary that the student should waste 
 time in the field about naming or trying to remem- 
 ber the names of fossils, &c., on the spot. That can 
 l>e best done at home, and the pleasure of " collect- 
 ing " can thus be spun to its longest length. Box 
 them, pack them well (or all your labour is lost), 
 and name them at home. Or supposing you do 
 not possess books which can assist you in nomencla- 
 ture, carry your fossils or minerals, just as you 
 found them, to the nearest and best local museum, 
 where you will be sure to see the majority of them 
 in their proper places and with their proper names. 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 13 
 
 Copy these, and when you arrange your specimens 
 in the cabinet, either get printed cards with the fol- 
 lowing headings 
 
 Genus 
 
 Species _ 
 
 Formation 
 
 Locality 
 
 (which can always be obtained at a cheap rate from 
 the London dealers), or else set to work and copy 
 them yourself in a good plain hand, so that there 
 is no mistaking what you write. As far as possible, 
 in each drawer or drawers representing a geolo- 
 gical formation, arrange your specimens in natural- 
 history order the lowest organisms first, gradually 
 ascending to the higher. By doing so, you present 
 geological and zoological relationship, so that they 
 can be taken in at a glance. You further make 
 yourself acquainted with the relations of the fossils 
 in a way you never would have done, had you been 
 content to huddle them together in any fashion, so 
 that you had them all together. Glass-topped boxes, 
 again, are very useful in the cabinet, especially for 
 delicate or fragile fossils, as people are so ready to 
 take them in their hands when they are shown, 
 little thinking how soon a cherished rarity mav be 
 
14 GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 
 
 destroyed, never to be replaced. Pasteboard trays, 
 made of stiff green paper, squared by the student 
 according to size, can also be so arranged as that 
 the drawer may be entirely filled, and so the 
 danger of shaking the contents about may be re- 
 moved. Each tray of fossils ought to have the 
 above -mentioned label fastened down in such a 
 way as that it cannot by accident get changed by 
 removal. 
 
 The spring and summer time are fast approach- 
 ing, and we know of nothing that will so much assist 
 in their rational enjoyment as the adoption of some 
 study in natural science. Botany, entomology, orni- 
 thology, geology, are all health-affording, nature- 
 loving pursuits. We have passed some of the very 
 happiest moments of our lives in solitary quarries, 
 or on green hill-sides, 
 
 " The world forgetting, by the world forgot ! " 
 
 There, amid the wreck of former creations, and 
 with the glory of the present one around us, we 
 have yielded to the delicious sense of reverie, such 
 <as can only be begotten under such circumstances. 
 The shady side of the quarry has screened us from 
 solar heat, and, whilst the air has been melodious 
 with a thousand voices, we have made personal 
 acquaintance with the numerous objects of God's 
 
GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS. 15 
 
 creation, animals and plants. How apt are the 
 thoughts of the poet Crabbe, and how well do they 
 convey the feeling of the young geologist in such 
 places : 
 
 " It is a lonely place, and at the side 
 Rises a mountain rock in rugged pride ; 
 And in that rock are shapes of shells, and forms 
 Of creatures in old worlds, and nameless worms ; 
 Whole generations lived and died, ere man, 
 A worm of other class, to crawl began." 
 
16 BONES. 
 
 II. 
 
 BONES. 
 
 BY EDWARD FENTONE ELWIN, CAIUS COLLEGE. 
 
 WHY is it that the students of Osteology are so few 
 in number ? It is a branch of science which offers 
 a wide field for original research, and one in which 
 at every step one's interest must get more and more 
 engrossed. It is a branch of science in which a 
 sufficient portion of its elements may be rapidly 
 learned, in order to set the student fairly on his 
 road. The barriers which surround it are few : that 
 is to say, the technical barriers are few. Many people 
 who want to occupy themselves with scientific study 
 are deterred, because of the feeling that there are so 
 many laborious preliminaries to be gone through 
 before they can begin to take any real pleasure in 
 the pursuit. Now, in Osteology it is true that a 
 wide and really almost unexplored field lies open 
 before one, but the equipments necessary to fit one 
 for one's journey are easily attained. The first step 
 is to get thoroughly acquainted with some one 
 typical specimen, as a standard of comparison for all 
 future work. It matters little what species is taken ; 
 
BONES. 17 
 
 whichever comes most convenient. Some familiar 
 mammal of fair size is the best. The dog is as good 
 as any, and easy to obtain. There ought never to 
 be any real difficulty in getting a suitable specimen. 
 If expense is no object, the simplest way is to get a 
 preparation, set up so as readily to take to pieces, at 
 any of the bone-preservers' shops in London. One 
 like this costs only a moderate sum, and is, of course, 
 the least trouble, although the manner in which 
 professionals prepare their bones is not altogether 
 satisfactory. But we may regard this as something 
 in the light of a luxury ; and it is not hard to prepare 
 one's own specimens, provided we do not mind a 
 little manipulation with unsavoury objects. I have 
 given hints as to the best method by which this may 
 be done in various pages of * Science-Gossip/ * Of 
 course, as one's work gets on, one needs further 
 specimens, but I do not think that anyone who 
 keeps his eyes open need be at a loss in this matter. 
 I have picked up several admirable bones ready 
 cleaned by the wind and weather, and many slightly 
 damaged ones may be got at naturalists' shops for 
 small sums, which are almost as good as the perfect 
 ones for an observer's purposes. Even single and 
 isolated bones are often very instructive. 
 
 But the first main point is that of getting the 
 * ' Science-Gossip ' for 1873, p. 39; for 1874, p. 226. 
 
 C 
 
18 BONES. 
 
 forms, peculiarities, names, and positions of the 
 bones of one skeleton fully impressed on the student's 
 mind. As to the books which are to help him to do 
 this, it is very hard to know what to recommend. 
 As far as I know, there is no really luminous book 
 on osteology in existence. So far as learning the 
 names and peculiarities of the bones, nothing could 
 be better or more to the purpose than Flower's 
 * Osteology of the Mammalia ' ; but this treats only 
 of one class, and does not get beyond technical 
 description. The first and second volumes of 
 Owen's ' Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates ' 
 fill the gap the best of any, and yet these are by no 
 means what we really want. There is a good deal 
 about bones in Huxley's 'Anatomy of Vertebrated 
 Animals,' but in such a fragmentary and scattered 
 form as to be of little use. The fact is, the field is 
 yet open for an Osteological Manual. Much has 
 been written on the subject. Pages of precise and 
 accurate description, beautiful and artistic sheets of 
 plates of bones without number, can be seen in any 
 scientific library. But this is only half the matter. 
 We want to advance a step farther. It is the 
 relation between structure and function which needs 
 working out. 
 
 When a new bone finds its way into the student's 
 hands, he observes some peculiarity in shape or 
 
BONES. 19 
 
 structure in which it differs from the bones he is 
 already acquainted with; the question naturally 
 occurs to him, Why does this bone assume one 
 shape in one animal, and in another is modified into 
 a different form ? He may look in vain in his books 
 for an answer to his query. And yet it is points 
 like these which, in my opinion, make up the true 
 science of Osteology. It is through careful, con- 
 stant, and intelligent observation, that these enigmas 
 are to be solved. Observation, indoors and out; 
 close attention to the habits of the animal in ques- 
 tion, on the one hand, and careful consideration of 
 its anatomical peculiarities, on the other. 
 
 Let me give an instance of this, first of all taking 
 it as an axiom that everything has been done with 
 a purpose. Take, then, the skull of a crocodile. 
 What do we find ? The orbits of the eyes, the 
 nasal orifice, the passages leading to the auditory 
 apparatus, all situated on a plane, along the upper 
 flattened surface of the head. What, then, is the 
 cause of this? Palpably to allow the crocodile to 
 remain submerged in the water, with its nose, eyes, 
 and ears just above the surface to warn him of the 
 approach of enemies or prey, and the rest of his 
 carcase securely hidden beneath the waters. 
 
 Take another instance. Observe the habits of 
 a mole. W T ith what rapidity it burrows uuder- 
 
 c 2 
 
20 BONES. 
 
 ground, shovelling away the earth with its fore feet- 
 Then look at its skeleton. We find just what we 
 should have expected. The bones of its fore legs of 
 astounding strength and breadth, furnished with 
 deep grooves, which, together with its sternum or 
 breastbone, which is furnished with a keel almost 
 like that of the sternum of a bird, afford attachment 
 to the powerful muscles. Its hind legs, being sim- 
 ply needed for locomotion, are of the normal size. 
 So, also, with the birds. The size of the keel of the 
 sternum varies in proportion to the powers of flight 
 which each species requires, for it is to the broad 
 surfaces of the sternum that the great wing-muscles 
 are attached. Take the skeleton of a humming- 
 bird, which spends its life almost upon the wing. 
 We find there a keel of so vast a size, that the re- 
 mainder of the skeleton is reduced to insignificance 
 in comparison. Of course, these instances that I 
 have given are all of the most obvious nature, but 
 they serve to show my meaning ; and the same line 
 of reasoning can, I am sure, be extended to all the 
 more minute points in osteological structure. 
 
 In these researches, one is soon struck by the 
 fact that in the modifications in various bones, or 
 sets of bones, in accordance with the habits of each 
 animal, the original type is never departed from, 
 only modified. See, for example, the paddle of a 
 
BONES. 21 
 
 whale. More like the fin of a fish in general ap- 
 pearance, and yet the same set of bones which are 
 found in the arm of a man, are again found in an 
 adapted form in the paddle of the whale. So, also, 
 the fore leg of a horse preserves the same general 
 plan. What is generally called its knee is in, 
 reality its wrist. It is there that we find the little 
 group of bones which forms the carpus. All below 
 it answers to our hand a hand consisting of one 
 finger. 
 
 Take even a wider instance. Compare the arm 
 of a man and the wing of a bird. Still greater 
 adaptations have taken place, and yet the plan 
 remains the same. We still find the clavicle or 
 collar-bone, the scapula or shoulder-blade, the 
 humerus, ulna, and radius, answering to the same 
 bones of our arm, a small carpus or wrist, and 
 finally the phalanges or fingers, simplified and 
 lengthened and anchylosed to form but one series of 
 bone, with the exception of a rudimentary thumb. 
 It is not uncommon to find a rudimentary bone like 
 this which in some allied species is fully developed. 
 The leg of the horse again gives us a very striking 
 example of this. There is, so to speak, only a 
 single finger, but we find, one on each side of this 
 single finger, two small bones, commonly known 
 only as splint-bones. These are the rudimentary 
 
22 BONES. 
 
 traces of the same finger-bones, which in the rhino- 
 ceros are fully developed. 
 
 Now Osteology abounds in wonderful forms of 
 structure like these. It is a study pregnant with 
 pleasurable results, and is a real profitable study, 
 and one in which each fresh student may do real 
 solid work. It is all the little facts observed by 
 naturalists from time to time all over the world, 
 which on being collected together form the nucleus 
 of knowledge ; for indeed all the scientific knowledge 
 which we possess is little more than a nucleus, with 
 which we are supplied. The mere collector of 
 curious objects in no way furthers science. Plenty 
 of people have amassed beautiful collections of 
 insects interesting in their way, but of very tran- 
 sient interest if it goes no farther. The collector 
 possibly knows nothing at all of the wonderful 
 internal structure of the animals he preserves. His 
 insects are to him simply a mosaic a collection of 
 pretty works of art. So also the shell-collector 
 for I cannot call such a one as I describe a concho- 
 logist has often, I believe, the most vague ideas of 
 what kind of animals they were that dwelt in the 
 cases he so carefully treasures, and his collection is 
 consequently of a dubious worth to him. Now, to 
 those who study the anatomy of the mollusc as 
 well as its shell, such a collection is full of the 
 
BONES. 23 
 
 deepest interest. He has learnt from his dissections 
 that the habits of every variety of mollusc are 
 accompanied by a variety of structure, which occa- 
 sions a variety in the shape of the case which en- 
 velopes it. It all blends together, and forms a 
 harmonious whole. With a real love for science, 
 as doubtless some of these collectors have, one is- 
 sorry to see so much time and money wasted on a 
 pursuit which in their hands yields no fruit of any 
 worth. The work of the mere collector can only be 
 classed with that of the compiler of a stamp-album. 
 Whereas, collections of natural objects, combined 
 with intelligent study, are invaluable and almost 
 indispensable to the naturalist. 
 
 In Mr. Chivers's note on Preserving Animals, 
 No. 117 of ' Science-Gossip,' the following passage 
 occurs: "The skeleton must be put in an airy place 
 to dry, but not in the sun or near the fire, as that 
 will turn the bones a bad colour." I cannot com- 
 prehend how this idea should have arisen. Perhaps 
 the most indispensable assistant to the skeleton pre- 
 parer is that very sun which Mr. Chivers warns him 
 against. The bleaching power of the rays of a hot 
 summer sun is astounding, and bones of the most 
 inferior colour can rapidly be turned to a beautiful 
 white by this means. It is for want of time and care 
 in following out this method that the professional 
 
BONES. 
 
 skeleton preparers in London resort to the aid d 
 lime, which, although it makes them, white, is ter- 
 ribly detrimental to the bones themselves. In a 
 smoky city like London, the principle of sun- 
 bleaching would be hard to follow ; but so great is 
 its value, that more than once I have had valuable 
 specimens sent down to me in the country, by a com- 
 parative anatomist in London, to undergo a course of 
 sun-bleaching ; and a specimen which I have re- 
 ceived stained and blotched, I have returned of a 
 beautiful uniform white, a change entirely due to 
 that sun which we are told to beware of. 
 
 The question, How are skeletons to be prepared ? 
 is one which is repeatedly asked. People desire a 
 method by which with little trouble the flesh may 
 be removed from a specimen, and a beautiful skeleton 
 of ivory whiteness left standing in its natural posi- 
 tion. I can assure all such inquirers that this can- 
 not be accomplished by any method at all. The art 
 of preparing bones is a long, elaborate, and difficult 
 one, and he who wishes to become a proficient in it 
 must be alike regardless to the most unpleasant 
 odours, and to handling the most repulsive objects. 
 Mr. Chivers's receipt for the maceration of specimens 
 is about the best which one could have, only I should 
 not advise so frequent a change of the water. What 
 is needed is as rapid a decomposition of the flesh as 
 
BONES. 25 
 
 is possible, and then the cleaning of the skeleton 
 just before the harder ligaments have also dissolved 
 But this requires very careful watching, and with 
 the utmost pains it is almost impossible to get a 
 skeleton entirely connected by its own ligaments. 
 
 Another point which must be taken into consider- 
 ation is this : What use is to be made of the spe- 
 cimens after they are prepared ? Are they for 
 purposes of real study, or simply as curious objects 
 to look at? If the latter is the purpose, I must 
 confess I do not think they are worth the trouble 
 of preparing. If the former is the object for which 
 they are intended, then I think no care or pains are 
 thrown away. But for the real student of Osteology 
 the separated bones, as a rule, are far more valuable 
 than those which are connected. He needs one or 
 two set up for purposes of reference, but the great 
 bulk of his specimens should be separate bones. 
 Osteology is one of the most delightful branches 
 of comparative anatomy, and one not very hard to 
 master. Let anyone try the experiment by getting 
 together a few bones and those from the rabbit 
 or the partridge we have had for dinner are by no 
 means to be despised and then, by purchasing 
 Flower's 'Osteology of the Mammalia,' which is a, 
 cheap and first-rate book, he will learn what the 
 study of the skeleton really is. And then let him 
 
26 BONES. 
 
 be on the look-out for specimens of all kinds on 
 all occasions, bringing home all suitable objects he 
 meets with in his walks, however unsavoury they 
 may be, and he will be astonished to find how many 
 specimens he will get together in the course of a 
 year. I have now myself upwards of seventy skulls 
 of various kinds, with often the rest of the skeleton 
 as well, the greater part of which were gradually 
 collected, by keeping constantly on the watch for 
 them, within a year and a half. 
 
BIRDS' EGGS. 27 
 
 III. 
 
 BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 BY THOMAS SOUTHWELL, F.Z.S., ETC. 
 
 I CAN imagine no branch of natural history more 
 fascinating in its nature, or more calculated to attract 
 the attention of the young, than the study of the 
 nests and eggs of birds ; the beauty of the structure 
 of the one, and of the form and colour of the others, 
 cannot fail to excite wonder and admiration; and 
 the interest thus excited, if rightly directed, may, 
 and indeed has, in many instances, lead to the de- 
 velopment of that passionate love for all nature's 
 works, that careful and patient spirit of investigation, 
 and that deep love for truth which should all be 
 characteristics of the true naturalist. Who can look 
 back upon the days, perhaps long passed away, when 
 as a school-boy he wandered through the woods and 
 fields, almost every step unfolding to him some new 
 wonder, some fresh beauty glimpses of a world of 
 wonders only waiting to be explored who can look 
 back to such a time without feeling that in those 
 wanderings there dawned upon his mind a source of 
 happiness which in its purity and intensity ranks 
 
28 BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 high amongst those earthly pleasures we are per- 
 mitted to enjoy, and which has influenced him for 
 good in all the changes which have since come upon 
 him, lightening the captivity of the sick room, and 
 adding fresh brightness to the enjoyments of health. 
 
 Between the true naturalist and the mere "col- 
 lector " there is a wide gap, and I trust that none for 
 whom I am writing will allow themselves to drift into 
 the latter class ; the incalculable mischief wrought by 
 those who assist in the extermination of rare and 
 local species by buying up every egg of a certain 
 species which can be obtained, for the mere purpose 
 of exchange, cannot be too much deprecated, < nd I 
 hope that none of my readers will be so guilty ; to 
 them the pleasures of watching the nesting habits 
 of the bird, the diligent search and the successful 
 find are unknown; the eggs in such a cabinet are 
 mere egg-shells, and not objects pregnant with in- 
 terest, recalling many a happy ramble, and many 
 a hardly-earned reward in the discovery of facts and 
 habits before unknown. Every naturalist must be 
 more or less a collector, but the naturalist should 
 always be careful of drifting into the collector, his 
 note-book and his telescope should be his constant 
 and harmless companions. 
 
 When the writer first commenced his collection, 
 the mode of preparing the specimens for the cabinet 
 was very rude indeed, and the method of arranging 
 
BIRDS EGGS. 29. 
 
 equally bad ; he is sorry to say the popular books 
 upon the subject which he has seen do not present 
 any very great improvement ; in giving the results 
 of his own experience, and the plan pursued by the 
 most distinguished oologists of the day, who have 
 kindly allowed him to explain the methods they 
 adopt, he will, he trusts, save not only much useless 
 labour, but many valuable specimens. 
 
 Before saying a word as to preparing specimens for 
 the cabinet, I wish to impress upon the young oolo- 
 gist the absolute necessity for using the greatest 
 care and diligence in order satisfactorily to identify, 
 beyond possibility of doubt, every specimen, before 
 he admits it to his collection. Without such pre- 
 cautions, what might otherwise be a valuable col- 
 lection is absolutely worthless; and it is better to 
 have a small collection of authentic specimens than 
 a much larger one, the history of which is not per- 
 fectly satisfactory ; in fact, it is a good rule to banish 
 from the cabinet every egg which is open to the 
 slightest doubt. There are some eggs which, when 
 mixed, the most experienced oologist will find it 
 impossible to separate with certainty, and which 
 cannot be identified when once they are removed 
 from the nest. 
 
 The difficulties in the way of authentication are 
 by no means slight, but space will not allow me to 
 dwell upon them ; the most ready means, however. 
 
30 BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 is that of watching the old bird to the nest, although 
 even in this, as the collector will find by experience, 
 there is a certain liability to error. In collecting 
 abroad it will be found absolutely necessary (how- 
 ever reluctant we may be to sacrifice life) to pro- 
 cure one of the parents with the nest and eggs. As 
 we are writing for beginners at home, we trust such 
 a measure will rarely be necessary; but that an 
 accurate knowledge of the appearance of the bird, 
 its nesting habits, the situation, and the materials 
 of which the nest is composed, will be found amply 
 sufficient to identify the eggs of our familiar birds. 
 This knowledge of course is only to be obtained by 
 patient and long observation ; but it is just by such 
 means that the student obtains the practical in- 
 sight into the habits and peculiarities of the objects 
 of his study, together with the careful and exact 
 method of recording his observations, which even- 
 tually enables him to take his place amongst the 
 more severely scientific naturalists whom he desires 
 to emulate. 
 
 I will first describe the tools required, and then 
 proceed to the mode of using them. 
 
 Figs. 4 and 5 are drills used for making the hole 
 in the side of the egg, from which the contents 
 are discharged by means of the blowpipe, Fig. 6. 
 Fig. 4 has a steel point, brass ferrule, and ebony 
 
BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 31 
 
 Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 
 
 handle, and may be used for eggs up to the size of 
 the wood-pigeon's ; Fig. 5 is all steel, the handle 
 octagonal, to give a firm hold to the fingers in 
 turning it, and may be used for eggs from the size 
 of the wood-pigeon's upwards. The 
 points of both are finely cut like 
 the teeth of a file, as shown in the 
 woodcut. The blowpipe, Fig. 6, is 
 about 5J inches in length (mea- 
 sured along the curve), and is made 
 of German silver, which from its 
 cleanliness, lightness, and freedom 
 from corrosion, will be found the 
 most suitable : it should be light 
 and tapering, and with a ring at the 
 upper ei d to prevent it from slip- 
 ping out of the mouth when used. 
 A piece of thin wire, Fig. 7, should 
 be kept in the tube when not in use, 
 to prevent it from becoming stopped 
 up by any foreign substance. A 
 common jeweller's blowpipe may be 
 used for large eggs, such as those of 
 gulls and ducks. Fig. 8 is a small 
 glass bulb-tube, which may be used 
 for sucking out the contents of very delicate eggs, 
 and other purposes, which will be explained here- 
 
32 
 
 BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 Fig. 6. Fig. Y. 
 
 Glass Bulb-tube, 
 for sucking eggs. 
 
 German-silver 
 Blowpipe. 
 
 Wire for unstop- 
 ping ditto. 
 
BIKDS' EGGS. 33 
 
 after. The small drill and blowpipe may be carried 
 inside the cover of the note-books. 
 
 The sooner a fresh egg is emptied of its contents 
 after it is taken from the nest the better. This 
 should be done by making a hole in the side with 
 the drill (choosing the side which is least conspicu- 
 ously marked) by working it gently backwards and 
 forwards between the forefinger and thumb, and 
 taking great care not to press too heavily, or the egg 
 will burst with the outward pressure of the drill : a 
 very small hole will generally be found sufficient. 
 When this is done, take the egg in the left hand 
 with the hole doivnwards, introduce the blowpipe, 
 by blowing gently through which, the contents may 
 soon be forced out. Water should then be intro- 
 duced by means of a syringe or the bulb-tube, 
 which may be filled and blown into the egg. After 
 shaking, blow the water out again by means of the 
 blowpipe ; repeat this till the egg is free from any 
 remains of the yolk or white : should the egg not be 
 quite fresh, it will require more washing. Care 
 should be taken to wet the surface of the egg as 
 little as possible. After washing the interior, lay 
 the egg, with the hole downwards, on a pad of 
 blotting-paper to drain till it is quite dry. Should 
 the eggs be much incubated, I should recommend 
 that the old birds be left to complete their labour 
 
 D 
 
34 BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 of love ; but a valuable egg may be made available 
 by carefully cutting a piece out of the side, extract- 
 ing the young one, and, after replacing the piece of 
 shell with strong gum-water, covering the join with 
 a slip of very thin silk-paper, which may be tinted 
 so as to resemble the egg, and will scarcely be 
 noticed. This is a very rough way of proceeding, 
 however, compared with Professor Newton's plan of 
 gumming several thicknesses of fine paper over the 
 side of the egg to strengthen it, through which the 
 hole is drilled : the young chick is then cut into 
 small pieces by means of suitable instruments, and 
 the pieces removed with others :* the paper is then 
 damped and removed from the egg. 
 
 The old plan of making two holes in the side of 
 the egg is very objectionable : a hole at each end is 
 still worse. Many eggs would be completely spoiled 
 by washing ; none improved. There is no necessity 
 for washing at all, except such as are very filthy, 
 and these eggs (which you may be sure are not 
 fresh) are not such as should be willingly accepted as 
 specimens: a little dirt only adds to the natural 
 appearance of the egg ; washing in most cases cer- 
 
 * "Suggestions for forming Collections of Birds' Eggs." By 
 Professor Newton. Written for the Smithsonian Institution of 
 Washington, and republished by Newman, 9, Devonshire Street, 
 Bishopsgate. 
 
BIRDS' EGGS. 3c 
 
 tainly does not. Never use varnish to the shell ; ii 
 imparts a gloss which is not natural : all eggs should 
 not have a polished appearance like those of the 
 Woodpecker. Should the yolk be dried to the side 
 of the egg, a solution of carbonate of soda should 
 be introduced: let it remain till the contents are 
 softened, then blow out and wash well. Great care 
 must be taken not to allow the solution to come in 
 contact with the outside of the egg. Having blown 
 the egg, and allowed the inside to become quite dry, 
 procure some thin silk-paper gummed on one side, 
 and with a harness-maker's punch cut out a number 
 of little tickets suitable to the size of the hole in the 
 egg, moisten one of these, and place it with the gum 
 side downwards over the hole, so as to quite cover 
 it ; cover the ticket with a coat of varnish, which 
 will render it air-tight and prevent its being aifected 
 by moisture. The egg thus treated will have all the 
 appearance of a perfect specimen, and if kept from 
 the light will suffer very little from fading. 
 
 The note-book has been mentioned. This should 
 be a constant companion ; nothing should be left to 
 memory. When an egg is taken, a temporary pencil 
 number should at once be placed upon it, and this 
 number should correspond with the number attached 
 to an entry in the note-book, describing the nest (if 
 not removed), its situation, number of eggs, day of 
 
 ~ 
 
3t> BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 month, and any other particular of interest. When 
 the egg is ready for the cabinet, as much of this 
 information (certainly, name, date, and locality) 
 should be indelibly marked upon it as conveniently 
 can be done (neatly, of course, and on the under 
 side) ; also the number referring to the collector's 
 general list of his collection, into which the im- 
 portant parts of the entry from the note-book should 
 be copied. Never trust to gummed labels, which 
 are always liable to come off ; by writing the neces- 
 sary particulars upon the egg itself there can be no 
 confusion or mistake. Most collectors have their 
 own plan of cataloguing their collection. I have 
 adopted the following, which I find to answer very 
 well. Obtain a blank paper book the size of common 
 letter-paper, rule a horizontal line across the centre 
 of each page, and make a complete list of British 
 birds, placing only two names on each page, one at 
 the head of each division, prefixing a progressive 
 number to each name : this number is to agree with 
 that marked on the egg of the species named. Then 
 follow the locality whence the egg came, by whom 
 taken (if not by myself), or how it came into my 
 possession, with any other particular worthy of note. 
 With all eggs received in exchange or otherwise, 
 this note should, if possible, be obtained in the 
 handwriting of the person from whom they are re- 
 
BIRDS EGGS. 37 
 
 ceivecl, and the slip on which it is written be affixed 
 in the book under the number. When specimens of 
 the eggs of the same species are obtained from 
 various localities, those from each locality should be 
 distinguished by a letter prefixed to the number. 
 The plan will be better understood by referring to 
 the following extract : 
 
 62. GREAT SEDGE-WARBLER (Sylvia turtoidcs, Meyer). 
 
 62. Keceived of , from the cabinet of Mr. . 
 
 a62. Taken by , a servant of , on the banks of the river 
 
 Tongreep, near Valkenswaard, in the south of Holland, 
 on the 9th of June, 1855. The birds may be heard a long 
 way oft' by their incessant " Kara, Kara, Kara." A few 
 years ago not one was to be found near Valkeuswaard. 
 
 A. B 
 
 662. Bought at Antwerp in August, 1865. 
 
 118. MEALY BED-POLE (Fringilla borealis, Tern.). 
 
 118. Nyborg, at the head of Msesk Fjord (one of the two 
 branches into which Varanger Fjord divides), East 
 Fiumark, Norway, July, 1855. The birds were very 
 plentiful, and only one species seen, which appears 
 quite identical with that which visits England every 
 winter. 
 
 C. D. E 
 
 By means of these entries, and the corresponding 
 number on the egg, mistakes are impossible, and the 
 name and history of each egg would be quite as well 
 known to a stranger as to the possessor. It needs 
 not to be said that this catalogue is replete with the 
 
38 BIRDS' EGGS. 
 
 deepest interest to its compiler. In it he sees 
 the record of many a holiday trip and many a suc- 
 cessful find. Some of the entries in my own register 
 the earliest date back five-and-twenty years are 
 memorials of companions long since dead, or sepa- 
 rated by rolling oceans, but on whose early friendship 
 it is a pleasure to dwell. 
 
 Nothing can be more vexatious and disappointing 
 than the receipt of a box of valuable eggs in a 
 smashed or injured condition from want of care or 
 knowledge of the proper method of packing. A 
 simple method is recommended by Professor Newton, 
 which, from experience, I can confidently recom- 
 mend : Roll each egg in tow, wool, or some elastic 
 material, and pack them closely in a stout box, 
 leaving no vacant place for them to shake; or a 
 layer of soft material may be placed at the bottom 
 of the box, and upon it a layer of eggs, each one 
 wrapped loosely in old newspaper ; upon this another 
 layer of wool or moss, then again eggs, and packing 
 alternately until the box is quite full. Bran, saw- 
 dust, &c., should never be used ; and it should be 
 ascertained that the box is quite filled, so that no 
 shaking or settlement can occur. 
 
 Almost every collector has his own plan for con- 
 structing his cabinet, and displaying his collection 
 
BIRDS' EGGS. 39 
 
 The beginner, if left to himself, will find it a matter 
 of no small difficulty, and many will be the changes 
 before he arrives at one at all satisfactory. Mr. 
 Osbert Salvin has invented a plan which I think as 
 near perfection as it is possible to arrive at, and 
 through his kindness I am enabled to give a brief 
 description of it. In the first place, his cabinets are 
 so constructed that the drawers, of different depths, 
 are interchangeable. This is effected by placing the 
 runners, which carry the drawers, at a fixed distance 
 from each other and making the depth of each drawer 
 a multiple of the distance between the runners. 
 For example : if the runners are three-quarters of an 
 inch off each other, then let the drawers be 1J, 2J, 
 3, 3J-, 4J, &c., inches deep. All these drawers will 
 be perfectly interchangeable, and a drawer deep 
 enough to hold an ostrich's egg can in a few moments 
 be placed amongst those containing warblers' : every 
 requirement of expansion and rearrangement will be 
 vastly facilitated, involving none of those radical 
 changes so worrying to a collector.* Mr. Salvin's 
 plan of arranging the eggs is equally simple, and 
 admits of any amount of change with very little 
 trouble. Each drawer is divided longitudinally by 
 
 * Of course, cabinets thus constructed will be found equally con- 
 venient for collections of bird-skins, fossils, &c. 
 
40 BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 thin slips of wood into three or more parts, about 
 4 to 6 inches across, as may be convenient ; a number 
 of sliding stages are then constructed of cardboard, 
 by cutting the cardboard half through, at exactly 
 the width of the partition, and bending the sides down 
 to raise the stage to the required height. A section 
 of one of these stages will be seen in Fig. 9, and the 
 
 Section of Sliding Stage. 
 
 arrangement in the drawer at Fig. 10. A number ol 
 oval holes are then to be cut by hand, or with a 
 wadding-punch of suitable size (altered in shape by 
 hammering), and a thin layer of cotton-wool gummed 
 on the upper surface of the stage : the holes, of 
 course, should be suitable in size to the egg they are 
 intended to receive. Between these stages sliding 
 partitions must be placed : these should be made of 
 just sufficient height that the horizontal part may 
 fit closely on the wool, as shown at Fig. 9. These 
 partitions should be made of thin wood for the 
 
BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 41 
 
 upright part, along which a horizontal strip of card- 
 board is to be fastened with glue, on which is to be 
 placed a label bearing the name of the species of 
 
 . 10. 
 
 Cabinet Drawer on Mr. Salvin's plan. 
 
 egg displayed on the stage, as seen in Fig. 10. All 
 this will be better understood by referring to the 
 figures. 
 
 Fig. 9 represents a longitudinal section of one of 
 
42 
 
 BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 the stages in its place, with the ends of the two next ;. 
 1, showing the cardboard stage ; 2, the cotton-wool ;, 
 3, the sliding partition ; and 4, the horizontal slip 
 of cardboard to carry the label. 
 
 Fig. 10 represents one of the drawers on Mr. 
 Salvin's plan : it is divided into three parts (1, 2, 3) 
 by fixed partitions. No. 1 is represented empty ; 
 No. 2 with the specimens arranged ; No. 3 with two 
 stages and two of the movable partitions. 
 
 This may appear very complicated at first sight, 
 but a few trials will be sufficient to master the 
 details, and the result will be very beautiful if neatly 
 carried out. The eggs are well shown, not liable to 
 fall out of their places, and it is very little trouble 
 to alter the arrangement, every part being movable. 
 Each drawer should be covered by a sheet of glass to 
 exclude dust. 
 
 Mr. Salvin's cabinet is an excellent one for hold- 
 ing the nests of birds, which should be removed with 
 as little damage as possible, and placed in the 
 drawers, under cover of glass. Great care must be 
 taken to keep them free from moth, to which they 
 are very liable ; for this purpose they should be 
 dressed with the solution of corrosive sublimate. 
 
 The young collector should remember that what 
 is worth doing at all is worth doing well, and that 
 the care bestowed upon his cabinet is not labour in 
 
BIRDS EGGS. 
 
 vain ; habits of exactness and precision of arrange- 
 ment are absolutely necessary if he would make the 
 best use of the materials which come in his way ; 
 and, above all, never let him degenerate into the 
 mere collector : his collection should be for use, and 
 not merely ornamental. 
 
44 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 IV. 
 
 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 BY DR. HENRY KNAGGS. 
 
 THE collector of Lepidoptera who aspires to success 
 must read the book of nature as he runs. If he 
 have not the wit to note and turn to account each 
 little fact which may come under his observation, 
 neither he nor science will be the better for his 
 collecting. He should, whenever he makes a 
 capture, know the reason why, or he will never make 
 a successful hunter. He should be ever on the alert : 
 his motto, nunquam dormio. 
 
 Some collect for profit, others for pastime ; but 
 the aim of our readers, I take it, is not only to 
 -acquire a collection of really good specimens, but 
 also at the same time to improve their minds ; and 
 the best way of effecting this purpose is to hunt the 
 perfect insect, not so much for itself as for the sake 
 of the golden eggs, which, with proper care and 
 -attention, will in due course yield the most satis- 
 factory results in the shape of bred specimens. 
 
 This being the case, and space being limited, it 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 45 
 
 seems best to simply touch upon the preliminary 
 stages of insect existence, pointing out as we ga 
 those methods of collecting and preserving which 
 experience has shown to be the most successful. 
 
 There can be no doubt but that egg-hunting is a 
 very profitable occupation, and far more remunera- 
 tive than most people dream of, particularly as a 
 means of acquiring the Sphinges, Bombyces, and 
 Pseudo-bombyces. Eggs, speaking generally, are 
 to be found on the plants to which the various 
 species are attached ; and a knowledge of the time 
 during which the species remains in the egg state,, 
 as well as the appearance of the eggs as deposited 
 in nature, should if possible be acquired previous to- 
 proceeding to hunt. The most practical way of as- 
 certaining the food and time is to watch the parent 
 insect in the act of depositing her ova; but when 
 the plant has been thus discovered, the best way is 
 to capture her, and induce her to lay at our home. 
 When eggs are inconspicuous, of small dimensions, 
 or artfully concealed, the use of a magnifyiog glass 
 is invaluable. 
 
 Eggs may be preserved by plunging them in 
 boiling water or piercing them with a very fine 
 needle, or they may have their contents squeezed 
 out and be refilled by means of a fine blowpipe, with 
 
46 BUTTEEFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 some coagulable tinted fluid ; but the shells them- 
 selves, after the escape of the larvae, form, when 
 mounted, beautiful objects for the microscope. 
 
 The three most successful plans of obtaining 
 caterpillars are searching, beating, and sweeping. 
 The first requires good eyesight and a certain 
 amount of preparatory knowledge ; the others are a 
 sort of happy-go-lucky way of collecting, useful 
 enough and profitable in their way, but affording a 
 very limited scope for the exercise of the wits. In 
 searching for larvae, the chief thing is to observe the 
 indications of their presence. A mutilated leaf, a 
 roughened bark, a tumid twig, a sickly plant, an 
 unexpanded bud, an abortive flower, or a windfall 
 fruit, should at once set us thinking as to the cause ; 
 or, again, the webs, the silken threads, the burrow- 
 ings and trails, or the cast-off skins of larvae, may 
 first call our attention to their proximity. Of course, 
 larvae may be found on almost all plants, as well as 
 in the bark, stems, or wood of many ; but the col- 
 lector should fortify himself with a knowledge of 
 what each plant is likely to produce, and hunt ac- 
 cordingly ; for though indiscriminate collecting may 
 sometimes be successful, it does not tend to improve 
 the intellectual powers. 
 
 Beating is the more applicable method of working 
 trees and bushes. It is carried out by jarring the 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 47 
 
 larvae from their positions by the aid of a stick or 
 pole, in such a manner that they will fall into an 
 inverted umbrella, or net ; or a sheet may be spread 
 beneath for their reception. Sweeping with a strong 
 net, passed from side to side with a mower-like 
 movement, is better adapted for working low ground- 
 herbage. The umbrella net, shown in Fig. 11, is, 
 perhaps, the best for the purpose. It is constructed 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 UmbreHa Xet, 
 
 by hinging two lengths of jack-spring on two pieces 
 of brass, and adapting them to the stick of the net, 
 the upper piece of brass being fixed, the lower 
 movable. 
 
 When captured, lame should be transferred to 
 
48 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHfc. 
 
 chip boxes, or else to finely and freely perforated 
 tins, the latter better preserving the food. A very 
 handy box for the purpose is formed by fitting a 
 second lid on to the bottom of a chip box, and then 
 cutting from the second lid and bottom a hole, as 
 shown in Fig. 12 (2) ; larvae may then be inserted 
 
 through the hole ; but 
 Fi s- 12 - when the lid is shifted 
 
 round, and the holes are 
 not opposite, of course 
 there will be no opening, 
 as in Fig. 12 (1), and the 
 Collecting Box for Larva. < contents are secured from 
 
 escape. 
 
 Larva preserving is carried out by first killing, and 
 then squeezing and extracting the contents through 
 the anal orifice by means of a crochet hook. 
 
 When this has been done, the skin is inflated, but 
 not to such an extent as to distend the segments, 
 and is kept thus inflated while it is being dried in a 
 heated metal chamber. Afterwards, if the colours 
 are observed to have faded, they may be cautiously 
 restored by the application of paint. These objects, 
 mounted on suitable artificial leaves, are then ready 
 for the cabinet. 
 
 Chrysalis collecting is conducted according to 
 the situation of the object sought. Some are to be 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 4^ 
 
 found in the chinks of bark or under loose bark, 
 which may be detached by means of a powerful 
 lever. Some are suspended from trees, bushes, 
 copings, hanging head downwards, or girded by 
 silken threads to low plants or walls ; others are to 
 be found in the stems or trunks of their food- 
 plants ; many are concealed in cocoons of more or 
 less perfect construction, others again amongst 
 fallen leaves, but the majority are to be met with 
 under the surface of the ground ; in which case we 
 shall have to dig for them by the aid of a trowel or 
 broad chisel. The best situations for subterranean 
 pupae are open park-like fields, borders of streams, 
 open spaces in fir woods, and they are usually situ- 
 ated within a foot or so of the tree trunks, at the 
 depth of two or three inches, though sometimes 
 considerably deeper. Of course both larvae and 
 pupae of aquatic species will have to be sought for 
 in their element, among the plants they frequent. 
 
 Chrysalis preserving is a simple matter : the 
 pupae may be killed by plunging them into hot 
 water or by baking; frequently, however, we find 
 that the natural polish disappears with death, and 
 this may be restored by varnishing. It is advisable 
 that the cocoons also, where practicable, should be 
 preserved, to give a notion of their appearance in 
 nature. 
 
 E 
 
50 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 Moths and butterflies may be sought for at rest 
 or on the wing. They may be disturbed from their 
 hiding places or they may be attracted by various 
 alluring baits. 
 
 At rest on stems of grasses and other plants 
 butterflies may be taken on dull, sunless days ; but 
 it requires some experience to detect a butterfly with 
 its wings raised up over its back : the little "Blues" 
 may thus be freely boxed in their localities. Again, 
 such butterflies as hybernate may be found in old 
 sheds and outhouses, or under stacks. 
 
 Moths may be taken at rest on tree trunks, 
 palings, and walls, or amongst foliage and ground 
 herbage. Some species are to be freely captured 
 in this way after their evening flight is over. Of 
 course, for evening work, a lantern to assist our 
 vision will be indispensable. 
 
 On the wing, some butterflies are exceedingly 
 active, others comparatively sluggish ; some fly 
 high, others low. In hunting them, the chief points 
 to be remembered are not to alarm, but rather 
 cautiously to stalk our game, and strike, when we 
 have an opportunity, with precision. It is impor- 
 tant also to avoid throwing a shadow over them, 
 and it is a good plan to get to windward of them 
 anything like flurry will be fatal to success. 
 
 Moths which fly by day may be chased in the 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 51 
 
 same manner, but some may be observed disporting 
 themselves round trees ; these must be watched, and 
 netted as they now and then descend. Others fly 
 at a very low altitude, and are only brought into the 
 field of vision by our assumption of the recumbent 
 position. At night again, though we watch for any- 
 thing stirring the air, among the trees or the herbage, 
 our tactics are somewhat modified ; for, if the insect 
 be of whitish colour, we should so place ourselves 
 that its form will stand boldly out against a mass of 
 dark foliage, whereas, if it be dingy in hue, we must 
 iake the sky for our background. 
 
 Disturbing insects, and thus causing them to start 
 forth, and so render themselves visible, is another 
 method of collecting. This is carried out in various 
 ways. 
 
 First, the occupants of high trees may be expelled 
 by jarring the trunk with a heavily loaded mallet, 
 or by thwacking the trunk with a long hazel stick ; 
 but a sharp look-out must be kept, for some sham 
 death, and fall plump down, while others make off 
 as fast as they can. Other plans are to pelt the 
 trees with stones, or pump on them with a powerful 
 garden engine, or beat them with a long pole ; and 
 of all trees the most profitable for this purpose is the 
 yew ; though firs, oaks, beeches, and other trees are 
 not to be despised. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 For beating bushes there is nothing better than 
 a walking-stick, and for low herbage a long switch 
 passed quickly from side to side with a tapping 
 movement is best adapted. The tenants of tree 
 trunks may be disturbed by brushing the surface 
 with a leafy little bough, or, better still, by the use 
 of a strong fan, with which a powerful blast may be 
 driven, the net being held in such a position as to 
 intercept such insects as are blown oif. 
 
 Thatch-beating in the autumn is a very profitable 
 employment, particularly in the matter of Depres- 
 sarite. Sweeping need only be mentioned here, for 
 moths collected by the process are anything but 
 perfect insects. 
 
 There are various methods of attracting moths and 
 butterflies. The first is effected by confining a virgin 
 female in a muslin cage, the frame 
 Fig. is. w hjcn may be very readily formed 
 
 by bending three pieces of cane into 
 circles, and fixing these together at 
 right angles, as shown in Fig. 13. 
 When this baited cage is placed in a 
 virg, Le P S$ favourable position, and the weather 
 is propitious for the flight of the 
 males, the latter will, in some cases, congregate, and 
 may be freely captured. 
 
 Then, the food-plant of the species is an attraction 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 53 
 
 at which we stand the best chance of procuring im- 
 pregnated females. 
 
 Various kinds of blooms possess alluring qualities 
 for insects : of these, sallow and ivy are the greatest 
 favourites with collectors. They should be worked 
 after dusk by means of a lantern and net ; but the 
 combination of a lantern fixed to a long stick, with a 
 
 Fig. U. 
 
 Lantern and Net. 
 
 shallow net beneatli and a little in advance of it, as 
 shown in the cut, is the apparatus best adapted for 
 the purpose ; the object of the net being to intercept 
 any insects which may happen to fall under the 
 stimulus of light. These attractions should be first 
 well searched over, and afterwards, a sheet (split if 
 necessary) having been carefully spread below the 
 bushes, a gentle shaking should be administered. 
 -Besides these blossoms, heather, ragwort, bugloss, 
 
54 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 eatchfly, bramble, various grasses, and a vast number 
 of other flowers, are wonderfully attractive. In 
 working patches of bloom we should remain sta- 
 tionary and strike as the visitors arrive. Again,, 
 over-ripe fruit, the juicy buds of certain trees, sap 
 exuding from wounds in trees, are all more or less 
 attractive. The secretion of aphides, commonly 
 called honeydew, observable in hot seasons on the 
 leaves of nettles and various other plants and trees, 
 is also well worth attention, and is at times very 
 productive of insects. 
 
 Sugaring is the next attraction, and a very im- 
 portant one it is. "Sugar" may be prepared by 
 boiling up equal quantities of coarse " foots " sugar 
 and treacle in a sufficient quantity of stale beer, a 
 small quantity of rum being added previous to use, 
 and also, if considered advisable, a flavouring of jar- 
 gonelle pears, anise-seed, or ginger-grass. This 
 mixture should be applied by means of a small paint 
 brush to the trunks of trees, to foliage, flowers, tufts 
 of grass, or indeed to any object which may present 
 a suitable surface ; for in some localities we are put 
 to shift to know where to spread our sweets. This 
 operation should be performed just before dusk,, 
 and soon afterwards the baited spots should be visited 
 and, by the aid of a lantern gently turned on them, 
 examined, a net being- held beneath the while. The- 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 55 
 
 best form of net for the purpose is formed by socket- 
 ing two paragon wires into a Y-piece and connecting 
 their diverging extremities by a piece of catgut, as 
 shown in Fig. 15. The catgut, being flexible, will 
 adapt itself (see the dotted line) to the surface of a 
 tree trunk when pressed against it. With regard to 
 insects captured at sugar, they are usually remark- 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 Box with linen joints. 
 
 Net for sugaring. 
 
 ably quiet, and may be boxed without difficulty, and, 
 with a few exceptions, may be conveyed home in the 
 boxes, care being taken to let each have a separate 
 apartment. The boxes should be strengthened with 
 strips of linen pasted round the joints, as shown in 
 Fig. 16, otherwise accidents may occur, particularly 
 on wet evenings or on rough ground. The skittish 
 
56 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 iDdividuals may be best captured by means of the 
 .sugaring drum, of which a cut is given in Fig. 17. 
 This apparatus consists of a cylinder, one end of 
 which is covered with gauze, the other provided 
 with a circular valve, which works in a slic. For 
 use, the valve is opened and the cylinder placed over 
 
 Sugaring Drum. 
 
 the insect, which naturally flies towards the gauze ; 
 then the valve is closed, the corked piston, shown at 
 the upper part of the cut, placed against it, the valve 
 re-opened, the piston pushed up to the gauze, the 
 insect pinned through the gauze, and the piston 
 withdrawn with the insect transfixed to it. 
 
 Light is another most profitable means of attract- 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 57 
 
 ing. The simplest way is to place a powerful mode- 
 rator lamp upon a table in front of an open window 
 which faces a good locality, and then wait net in 
 hand for our visitors, which usually make their 
 appearance late in the evening, and continue to 
 arrive until the small hours. Those who prefer 
 it can use the American moth-trap, which is self- 
 acting, detaining such insects as may enter its 
 portals, or those who can afford the space may fit 
 up a room on the same principle. Street lamps are 
 very profitable certain localities, and amply 
 reward the collector who perseveringly and minutely 
 
 Fig. 13 
 
 Cyauide Bottle and Ferrule. 
 
 examines them. The apparatus depicted in Fig. 18 
 is very useful for taking off such insects as may be 
 on the glass of the lamp: it consists of a cyanide 
 bottle attached by a ferrule to the end of a suffi- 
 ciently long stick. When placed over an insect, 
 
58 BUTTEEFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 stupefaction is quickly produced. A net of the 
 shape represented in Fig. 19 is also very useful for 
 
 getting at the various part& 
 Fig. 19. f , , 
 
 ot the lamp. 
 
 The best methods of stu- 
 pefying and killing insects 
 on the field is the cyanide 
 bottle, prepared by placing 
 Lamp Net. alternate layers of cyanide 
 
 of potassium and blotting- 
 paper in the bottom of a wide-mouthed bottle, the 
 mouth of which is accurately stopped with a cover, 
 which is better for the purpose than a bung. The 
 chloroform bottle, which is generally made with a 
 p. 20 little nipple, through which the fluid flows 
 slowly out, and covered with a screw- tap, as 
 r\ in the cut 20, is also handy. The chloro- 
 : fl form should be dropped over perforations 
 in the box containing our patient, these 
 perforations having been previously made 
 by a few stabs of a penknife. After the 
 fluid is dropped, our thumb should cover 
 
 Chloroform it, when the vapour will quickly enter, and' 
 the inmate speedily become insensible. 
 Afterwards the coup de grace may be given to the 
 insect by pricking it under the thorax with the nib 
 of a steel pen dipped in a saturated solution of oxalic 
 
BUTTERFLIES AM) MOTHS. 59 
 
 acid. If we are smokers, a puff of tobacco may be 
 blown into the box with like result. If we are desti- 
 tute of any apparatus, and brimstone lucifers for the 
 purpose of suffocating our captures under an inverted 
 tumbler cannot be obtained at some roadside inn, we 
 must fall back on the barbarous practice of pinching 
 the thoraces of such as cannot be carried home in 
 boxes. At home we shall find the laurel jar and 
 ammonia bottle the most useful. The former is 
 made by partially filling a large wide -mouthed 
 bottle or jar with cut and bruised dry leaves of 
 young laurel : if any dampness hang about them, 
 we shall have the mortification of seeing our speci- 
 mens become mildewed. The latter consists in 
 adding a few lumps of carbonate of ammonia, or 
 some drops of strong liquid ammonia, on a sponge, 
 to the bottle in which our captures, with each box 
 lid slightly opened, have been placed. But it must 
 be borne well in mind, firstly, that ammonia is in- 
 jurious to the colours of most green insects ; and 
 secondly, that if the specimens be not well aired 
 after having been thus killed, the pins with which 
 they are transfixed will become brittle and break. 
 Insects should be left in the ammonia for several 
 hours, and are then in the most delightful condition 
 for setting out. 
 
 To pin an insect properly is a most 'important 
 
'60 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 procedure. The moth, if of moderate dimensions 
 may be rested or held between the thumb and fore 
 finger of the left hand, while the corresponding 
 digits of the right hand operate by steadily pushing 
 a pin through the thorax, bringing it out between 
 the hind pair of coxae until sufficient of the pin i? 
 exposed beneath to steady the insect in the cabinet 
 The direction of the pin should be perpendicular 
 when the insect is viewed from the front, as in 
 
 Fig. 21 Fig. 22. 
 
 Front View of properly pinned Side View of ditto . 
 
 Insect. 
 
 Fig. 21 ; but a lateral view should show the pin 
 slightly slanting forwards, as in Fig. 22. Pins made 
 for the purpose in numerous sizes are sold by Mr. 
 -Cooke, of New Oxford Street. 
 
 Setting out moths and butterflies is an operation 
 which, if skilfully performed, adds much to the 
 beauty of the future specimens. The method of 
 setting most popular is carried out by means of 
 saddles and braces. These so-called saddles are 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 61 
 
 pieces of cork rounded as in the sectional figure, a 
 groove being cut out for the reception of the bodies 
 of the insects : they are generally strengthened by 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 Cork Saddle for setting out Insects. 
 
 a strip of wood, upon which they are glued. Braces^ 
 are w r edge-shaped pieces of card or thick note- 
 paper, the thick end strengthened, if necessary, with 
 a disc of card fixed by shoe- 
 makers' paste, and pierced with 
 a pin through it, as shown in 
 Fig. 24. The mode of applica- 
 tion of these appliances is beau- 
 tifully shown in Fig. 26.* Bui 
 before these straps can be applied, 
 the wings must first be got into 
 position by means of the setting 
 needle and setting bristle, which Braces for setting out. 
 are thus manipulated (the set- 
 ting bristle, by the way, being formed by fixing a. 
 cat's whisker and a pin into a piece of cork, at. 
 
 Figs. 26 and 27 have been kindly lent by Messrs. Reeve & Co. 
 
62 
 
 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 the angle shown in Fig. 25) : After the insect is 
 straightly pinned upon the saddle, and the legs, 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Setting Bristle. 
 
 antennae, and, if necessary, the tongue, got into 
 position, the left fore-wing is to be pushed or tilted 
 into its place by means of the setting needle, which 
 
 Moth set out on Cork Saddle. 
 
 is merely a darning needle with a handle ; and s 'imul- 
 taneously it is to be held down by the bristle ; then 
 a small brace should be applied to the costa of 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 63 
 
 the fore wing. Next the hind wing should in like 
 manner be adjusted, and as many braces as are 
 considered necessary to keep the wings in their place 
 should be added. Lastly, the right side of the insect 
 should be treated in a similar way. 
 
 A very useful mode of setting, invaluable when 
 we are destitute of saddles, is known as " four-strap " 
 setting, and is well explained in Fig. 27. In this 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
 Four-strap setting. 
 
 <3ase the lower straps are first put into such a posi- 
 tion, that when the insect is placed over them the 
 middle of each of the coste will rest upon them ; 
 then the wings are got into position, and the second 
 pair of straps are applied over the wings, the latter 
 retaining their position through the elasticity of 
 their costse: two more straps are generally added 
 to secure the outer borders of the wings, as shown 
 
6'4 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 in the drawing; but these, though advantageous, are 
 not absolutely necessary. The saddles, with their 
 contents, should be kept in a drying house, which is 
 a box adapted for their reception, and freely ven- 
 tilated, until the specimens are thoroughly dry, when 
 the latter may be cautiously removed, and trans- 
 ferred to the collection. 
 
 To preserve our collection from decay, consider- 
 able care and attention is necessary. In the first 
 place no insect which is in. the least degree sus- 
 pected of being affected by mites, or mould, or 
 grease, should on any account be admitted to our 
 collections. It is best to be on the safe side and 
 submit every insect received from correspondents, 
 whether mity or not, to quarantine, by which is 
 meant their detention for a few weeks in a box the 
 atmosphere of which is impregnated with some va- 
 pour destructive to insect life ; such as that of 
 benzole. Our own specimens w r e should kyanize 
 by touching the bodies of each with a camel's-hair 
 brush dipped in a solution of bichloride of mercury 
 of the strength six grains to the ounce of spirits of 
 wine, no stronger. 
 
 As for mould, it is best destroyed by the appli- 
 cation of phsenic or carbolic acid, mixed with three 
 parts of ether or spirit. As preventives, the speci- 
 mens should be kyanized as above. Caution in the 
 
BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 65 
 
 use of laurel as a killing agent must be exercised, 
 and the collection must be kept in a dry room. 
 
 Grease may be removed by soaking the insects in 
 pure rectified naphtha or benzole, even by boiling 
 them in it if necessary. When the bodies only are 
 greasy, they may be broken off, numbered, and 
 treated as above. After the grease is thoroughly 
 softened, ttye insects should be covered up in pow- 
 dered pipeclay or French chalk, which may be sub- 
 sequently removed by means of a small sable brush. 
 As a precaution against grease, it is advisable to 
 remove the contents of the abdomina by slitting up 
 the latter beneath with a finely pointed pair of 
 scissors before they are thoroughly dry, and packing 
 the cavities with cotton wool. The males, especially 
 of such species as have internal feeding larvas, should 
 be thus treated. 
 
 Some prefer to keep their collections in well-made 
 store boxes, which possess many advantages over the 
 cabinet ; for example, they may be kept like books 
 in a bookcase, the upright position rendering the 
 contents less liable to the attacks of mites ; they are 
 more readily referred to, and are more portable, and 
 they admit of our gradually expanding our collec- 
 tions to any extent. Cabinets, on the other hand, 
 are preferred by many, for the reasons that they are 
 compact and generally form a handsome article 
 
 F 
 
66 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 
 
 of furniture ; moreover, good cabinets are made 
 entirely of mahogany, which is the best wood for the 
 purpose ; deal, and other woods containing resinous 
 matter, having a decidedly injurious effect on the 
 specimens. As a preservative, there is, after all, 
 perhaps nothing better than camphor ; but it should 
 be used sparingly, or its tendency will be to cause 
 greasiness of the specimens. 
 
BEETLES. 67 
 
 V. 
 
 BEETLES. 
 BY E. C. EYE, F.Z.S., ETC. 
 
 THE general rules, so ably expounded by Dr. Knaggs 
 in his instructions for collecting Lepidoptera, as to 
 constant alertness and making " the reason why " 
 the starting-point of investigation, apply with equal 
 force to the collector of Coleoptera, and need not 
 be here recapitulated. But they do not, in the 
 instance of the latter, require generally to be ob- 
 served, except as to the perfect state of beetles; for, 
 owing to the hidden earlier conditions of life of most 
 of those insects, and to the long period during which 
 these conditions exist, it is but seldom that the pur- 
 suit of rearing them, so universally and profitably 
 adopted by the Lepidopterist, is found of much use 
 to the collector of beetles. And this is very much 
 to be regretted ; because, in the majority of cases, if 
 the latter succeed in rearing a beetle from its earliest 
 stage, and keep proper notes of its appearance and 
 habits, he will probably be adding to the general 
 stock of knowledge, as the lives of comparatively 
 "* few, even of the commonest species, are recorded 
 from the beginning. It may be, also, in addition 
 
 p 9 
 
68 BEETLES. 
 
 to the reasons above mentioned, for the usual want 
 of success attending the rearing of beetle larvae, that 
 the fact of bred specimens being frequently (from 
 the artificial conditions attending their development, 
 and from their not being allowed that length of 
 time which, in a state ot nature, they require after 
 their final change before they are ready to take an 
 active part in their last stage of life) not nearly so 
 good as those taken at large, militates considerably 
 against the more general use of this method of 
 adding to a collection. In this respect, of course, 
 the Lepidopterist is actuated by precisely opposite 
 motives ; as lor him, a bred specimen is immeasur- 
 ably superior to one captured. And the fact of so 
 few beetle larvse being known at all, or, if known, 
 only to the possessor of somewhat rare books, renders 
 it very likely that a mere collector, finding a con- 
 siderable expenditure of patience and trouble result 
 in the rearing ol a species of which he could at any 
 time readily procure any number of specimens, may 
 very probably abandon rearing for the future. 
 
 These observations, however, are not in the least 
 intended to dissuade anyone from breeding or en- 
 deavouring to breed beetles. On the contrary, it is 
 obvious from them that it is precisely by attend- 
 ing to these earlier stages that the earnest student 
 Cnovice or expert) has the most chance of distin- 
 
BEETLES. 69 
 
 giiislring himself, on account of the more open field 
 for discovery. And in the instance of many small, 
 and especially gregarious, beetles, breeding from the 
 larvae is frequently very easy, if only the substances 
 (fungus, rotten wood, roots, stems of plants, &c.) 
 containing them be carefully left in precisely the 
 state as when found, and be exposed to the same 
 atmospheric or other important conditions. In fact, 
 to ensure success and good specimens, it is best that 
 in their early stages beetles should be " let alone 
 severely." 
 
 It may be here observed that we have been lately 
 in this country indebted to the minute observations 
 and great tact of some of our best students of Micro- 
 Lepidoptera (in which branch ot entomology we are 
 second to none in Europe) for some most interesting 
 additions to our knowledge of habits, and for long 
 series of beetles usually rare in collections. 
 
 Dismissing then the earlier stages of beetles, the 
 following observations will apply only to the imago, 
 or " beetle proper." And here I would repeat how 
 evident it is that the knowledge of " the reason 
 why" is especially indispensable to the beetle col- 
 lector, judging from the extreme rarity of the occur- 
 rence of any new or valuable insect in the stores of 
 a mere random collector or a beginner. For him, 
 no old hand detects an equivalent to Daplidice or La- 
 
70 BEETLES. 
 
 thonia in his duplicate boxes ; whereas, among Lepi- 
 dopterists, " school-boy's luck " is proverbial. I can 
 give no reason for this statement, founded on my 
 own (by no means trifling) experience in the way of 
 examining specimens. And in this idea I think I 
 am corroborated by the very great rarity in old 
 collections and records of many species now uni- 
 versally common; the directions in older manuals, 
 as to looking under stones, on walls, paths, &c., 
 pretty clearly showing that the majority of captures 
 in the olden time were what are now irreverently 
 designed as " flukes." Still, it is astonishing to what 
 good account a sharp observer may turn these casual 
 meetings, often to him resulting in the discovery of 
 " the reason why " as to the particular species acci- 
 dentally found, and to the correlative increase of his 
 collection. And, apart from captures during collect- 
 ing expeditions, good things will at times occur to 
 the alert entomologist: one, for instance, who will 
 startle his friends in the streets by suddenly swoop- 
 ing with his hat after an atom flying in the sunshine, 
 or who is not too proud to pick up another, racing on 
 the hot pavement, during those days of early spring, 
 when the insect myriads, revelling in warmth and 
 light, after their long winter's durance, may be seen 
 madly dashing about, even in towns : on such a day, 
 for instance, as that whereon a certain well-known 
 
BEETLES. 71 
 
 doctor among the beetles found that living carabi- 
 deous gem Anchomenus sexpunctatus, far from its 
 native Sphagnum and heath, wandering on the flag- 
 stones of the W.C. district. 
 
 But, before referring to special modes of hunting, 
 it may be as well to mention the instrumenta belli 
 required for the equipment of the Coleopterist in 
 this country. These are but few, and of the simplest 
 kind ; indeed, in entomology, as in the gentle art of 
 angling, it is often the most roughly accoutred that 
 secures the best basket. The umbrella net, figured 
 at p. 47, used both for beating into and sweeping, 
 cannot be dispensed with, and a beating stick can 
 be cut out of the nearest hedge. The net itself 
 should be of fine "cheese cloth," or some strong 
 fabric that allows the passage of air, but not of 
 beetles; otherwise, if of too close a fibre, it is apt 
 to " bag " with the inclosed air, and reject its con- 
 tents during the operation of sweeping. The net 
 being of course used with the right hand, its left 
 top edge especially bears the brunt of the attendant 
 friction, and gets soon worn; it is consequently 
 advisable to have an outer strip of stout " leather- 
 cloth" sewn strongly over the rim there for some 
 little distance, extending that protection also to the 
 right top edge, though not for so long a space. The 
 curved handle of the stick should be sawn off as soon 
 
72 
 
 BEETLES. 
 
 as possible ; it frequently catches in the pockets of 
 the sweeper, causing a jerk to the net, and dispersal 
 of its contents. For a similar reason, the ferruled 
 apex may well be removed. Some collectors keep 
 the sharp cutting edge of the spring sides of the net 
 uncovered, sewing the net itself to holes drilled at 
 intervals on the lower side of the springs : a net of 
 this kind cuts very close, and where there is much 
 herbage soon gets full of fragments, taking a long 
 time to examine. It will be found handy if the bag 
 of the net be cut to a point from the front towards 
 the handle side : this causes the contents to gravitate 
 to the bottom, as far as possible from the point where 
 the rim meets the substance swept. 
 
 A common umbrella (easily slung by a stout string 
 over the back when not in use) is an admirable (some 
 think, superior) substitute for this net, as it can be 
 held up higher by the ferrule, and tall bushes and 
 trees (of which the branches nearer the top are 
 usually most productive) can be beaten into it with 
 more certainty of their beetle contents being caught. 
 The steel frames will be found in the way when the 
 beetles are being bottled ; consequently, a good large 
 gingham may be consecrated to collecting, and its 
 inside (not merely the outer ribs) covered all over up 
 to the middle (leaving no aperture there if possible) 
 with thin white calico, stitched over the frame. 
 
BEETLES. 73 
 
 Another good form of net for sweeping or dragging 
 in long grass or herbage, is of the common fishing 
 landing-net description, made of very stout wrought- 
 iron or steel wire, either in a simple hoop, if a mode- 
 rate size only be required, or with a single hinge to 
 fold into two, or with three such hinges, folding into 
 four, as may be desired. I have used one of these 
 four-folding nets for x years, and never found it fail. 
 One end is hammered out flat and perforated, the 
 other forming a male screw (1^ inch long), bent at 
 right angles with the body of the frame, passes 
 through the hole, and fits into a female screw in a 
 strong and long ferrule, fixed in the usual way to 
 the end of a stout oaken walking-stick. As the 
 power exerted in sweeping with such a net is great, 
 -and the action continuous, the simple screw is not 
 enough, and a small screw hole is drilled right 
 through the ferrule and the screw end of the net ; 
 a small thumb-screw, in shape like an old-fashioned 
 clock key, going transversely through both, and 
 effectually hindering lateral displacement. The 
 framework of the net and the ferrule are better made 
 of the same metal, because, if made of two metals of 
 different density, the stronger soon wears away the 
 weaker ; and the stick must be inserted deeply into 
 the ferrule, and held on with two deep pins or small 
 screws on opposite sides (not on the same level, 
 
74 BEETLES. 
 
 however, as the wood is in that case weakened), one 
 being insufficient to stand the strain. The net, of 
 the same substance as that above mentioned, is made 
 with a loose "hem" to slip on the frame before 
 screwing it in the ferrule. A leather-cloth edging all 
 round is advisable, and the bag should be cut long 
 enough to prevent the possibility of the contents 
 jerking out. Another very good plan for securing 
 the frame to the ferrule is to have both ends of it 
 soldered together into a deep square-sided plug, 
 fitting into a corresponding square hole in the ferrule. 
 The small cross-screw or pin is here also to be used; 
 but the angles of the plug naturally keep a much 
 tighter hold than the worm of a screw. Such a 
 frame as this cannot, of course, be folded. 
 
 For water beetles, a similar net to that last men- 
 tioned is effective, but it should be stouter and with a 
 flat front, for dredging closely against the sides and 
 bottoms of ponds. The best substance for its bag is 
 fine sampler canvas ; and a very large, stout bamboo 
 cane is at once light and strong for its stick. To 
 avoid friction the bag may be affixed to small wire 
 rings let into holes on the lower edge of the frame, 
 or running on the frame itself. 
 
 A sieve is one of the most remunerative imple- 
 ments, and may be procured either simple or folding. 
 It consists of a stout wire-framed circle, connected 
 
BEETLES. 75 
 
 by a strong linen band, six inches deep, with the 
 bottom of an ordinary wire sieve, the meshes of which 
 are wide enough to allow any beetle to pass through. 
 Leaves, grass, flood refuse, ants' nests materials, cut 
 grass, seaweed, haystack and other debris, are roughly 
 shaken in this over a sheet of brown paper, which 
 should invariably form part of a Coleopterist's appa- 
 ratus. A stout piece of double waterproof material 
 may be substituted ; and, in marsh collecting, must 
 be used as a kneeling pad. 
 
 For ordinary bark collecting, a strong ripping 
 chisel (of which the blade is well collared, so as not 
 to slip) is as useful a tool as can be procured ; but 
 for real tree working, no ordinarily portable instru- 
 ment is thoroughly effective. Light steel hammers 
 with a lever spike may delude the collector ; but a 
 woodman's axe, a saw, a pickaxe or crowbar, will often 
 be found not too strong. For cutting tufts, &c., a 
 strong garden pruning-knife is good, and an old fixed- 
 handled dinner-knife (carried in a sheath) better. 
 For holding the results of the operation of these 
 instruments, the collector needs but one or two 
 collecting bottles one rather small and circular, of 
 as clear and strong glass (not cast) as can be got, 
 with a wide mouth and flat bottom. Its neck should 
 not slope, but be of even width, or the cork will often 
 get out of itself. This cork should be a deep one,. 
 
76 BEETLES. 
 
 and be perforated longitudinally by a stout and large 
 round quill, the bottom of which should be level with 
 the bottom of the cork, the top projecting some inch 
 and a half, with the upper orifice not cut off straight, 
 but slightly sloped diagonally, so as more easily to 
 scoop up beetles from the net or hand. It is closed 
 with an accurately fitting, soft, wooden plug, rather 
 longer than the quill, reaching exactly to the bottom 
 of it, but with its top projecting above the top of the 
 quill, and broader than it, so as to be easily pulled 
 out by the teeth when the hands are occupied. The 
 bottle should be secured by stout twine to the 
 buttonhole, enough play being left for it to reach 
 the net in any ordinary position. I usually secure 
 the external junction of quill and cork with red 
 sealing-wax, and have more than once found the 
 bright red catch my eye when I have lost my bottle. 
 [N.B. This loss will always happen to every collector ; 
 generally after a peculiarly lucky day's work : so use 
 the string-preventive.] The body of the bottle may 
 usefully be half covered with white paper gummed 
 on. A few stout, plain glass tubes, papered in 
 like way, and with plain corks, should be carried for 
 special captures ; and a cyanide bottle,* as mentioned 
 
 * " Killing bottles," containing cyanide of potassium under a 
 layer of gypsum, may be bought at most natural-history apparatus 
 dealers, and are useful as relaxing depots. 
 
BEETLES. 77 
 
 at p. 57, or one containing bruised and shredded 
 young laurel shoots, will be found useful for safely 
 bringing home larger species, or such as would 
 devour their fellow-captives. When put into these, 
 beetles almost instantly die and become rigid, needing 
 a stay of two days or so to become relaxed, in which 
 condition they will then safely remain for a consider- 
 able period. In the first collecting bottle a piece of 
 muslin should be put, to give the contents foothold : 
 these are brought home alive, and killed by bodily im- 
 mersion in boiling water, after which they are placed 
 on blotting paper to drain off superfluous moisture. 
 
 Good things should always, when practicable, be 
 set out at once, as the pubescence is apt to get matted 
 if they are consigned for too long a period to the 
 laurel or cyanide bottle ; but such as remain un- 
 mounted can be put in a little muslin bag, and de- 
 posited in laurel until a more convenient opportunity. 
 Beetles also, when taken in large numbers during an 
 expedition into a productive locality, may be collected 
 indiscriminately into a bottle containing sawdust 
 (sifted to get rid both of large pieces and actual 
 dust), slightly alcoholized, or with a small quantity 
 of carbolic acid or cyanide of potassium in it. Each 
 night, on reaching home, these will be found to be 
 dead, and they can then be transferred to a larger 
 bottle or air-tight tin can, partially filled with the 
 
78 BEETLES. 
 
 same materials and a little carbolic acid to check 
 undue moisture. Filled up with sawdust, this will 
 travel in safety for any distance, and almost any 
 time. 
 
 Species of moderate size, say up to that of an 
 ordinary Harpalus, are in this country usually 
 mounted on card. Much is to be said both for and 
 against this practice : it enables the proportions and 
 formation of limbs to be well appreciated, and it 
 preserves the specimens securely ; but there can be 
 no doubt that it prevents an inspection of the under 
 side, except at the slight trouble of extra manipula- 
 tion in floating off in cold water and reversing, and 
 that the gum used clogs the smaller portions of the 
 insect that come in contact with it. Specimens 
 larger than those mentioned should be pinned 
 through the centre of the upper third of the right 
 wing-case (never through the scutellum or thorax), 
 and the limbs extended in position with pins on a 
 setting board, made of a flat strip of cork glued on 
 deal. Both these and the mounted examples must 
 be left to dry, for a week at least, in the open air : 
 if the boards are fitted in a frame, they can be re- 
 versed (as soon as the gum is dry in mounted 
 specimens), so that the specimens are bottom up- 
 wards dust cannot then collect on them, and there 
 is less chance of mites attacking them. Specimens 
 
BEETLES. 79 
 
 dry more rapidly in spring and summer than at any 
 other time, and of course more readily in dry weather. 
 For mounting specimens, five or six small pieces 
 of the finest and most transparent gum tragacanth, 
 or " gum dragon," with rather less than the same 
 number of pieces of clear gum arabic, are to be put 
 in a wide-mouthed bottle with about a large wine- 
 glassful of cold water. In a short time (twenty-four 
 hours at most) the gum absorbs the fluid and swells ; 
 then add half as much more water, and stir the 
 mixture, which, on being left for another twenty-four 
 hours at most, will be ready for use. The mixture 
 should be dull white, of even texture, and not quite 
 fluid. Never make a large quantity at one time, or 
 be persuaded to put anything else into it. Card for 
 mounting should be the whitest, smoothest, and best 
 that can be procured. " Four-sheet Bristol board " 
 for large specimens, and three-sheet for ordinary use, 
 are about the proper degrees of thickness. Kobersons, 
 of Long Acre, artists' colourmen, have promised the 
 writer to turn out cardboard of this kind with an 
 extra milling, to ensure a good surface. Upon strips 
 of this card, pinned on a setting board, the insects to 
 be set out are mounted, one at a time, and not too 
 dose to each other, each on a separate "dab '' of the 
 gum, the limbs being duly set out with a fine pin or 
 needle mounted in a paint-brush stick. A pin with. 
 
80 BEETLES. 
 
 the point very finely turned, so as to form a minute 
 hook, is very useful ; and for extremely minute work 
 a " bead-needle " is valuable. The gum-brush should 
 not be used in setting, but one or two very fine-pointed 
 camel's-hair brushes may be found of advantage. 
 Before mounting, reverse the specimen on the 
 blotting-paper, and brush out its limbs as far as 
 practicable with a damp flat brush. Very refrac- 
 tory individuals may require to be gummed on their 
 backs ;' as soon as the gum is dry, their limbs can be 
 more easily got into position, and they can then be 
 gently damped off their temporary mount, and 
 treated as above. 
 
 A small pair of brass microscope-forceps, ground or 
 cut to a minute point, will often materially assist in 
 getting refractory limbs into position. French white 
 liquid glue (not made of shell-lac) is useful for 
 fastening down larger specimens, as it is very strong 
 and dries readily ; and with a very small quantity of 
 it rows of specimens can quickly and securely be 
 roughly mounted, in the Continental way, which is 
 preferable in many cases to leaving the insects for a 
 long time in laurel before setting them out. Such 
 specimens can afterwards, if desired, be relaxed by 
 leaving them on damp sand, or in the cyanide or 
 laurel bottle, and be then set in the way above 
 indicated. 
 
BEETLES. 81 
 
 Care must be taken, in setting, not to put the 
 specimen lop-sided on the card, or to distort its 
 segments unnaturally by pulling them out of posi- 
 tion, &c., and not to allow gum to lodge anywhere 
 on the upper surface. It is easy, soon after a spe- 
 cimen is securely mounted, to remove with clean 
 water and brush any superfluous gum. In preparing 
 such insects as are liable to "run up" in drying 
 (e. g. the Staphylinidse\ the abdomen should be duly 
 pulled out by a bead-needle inserted at its apex; 
 and to prevent the contraction of the internal mus- 
 cles in drying, this part may be held with the liquid 
 glue above mentioned. Usually, by putting these 
 insects as soon as mounted into a box and keeping it 
 closed for a few hours, while the first drying takes 
 place, the proper dimensions of the abdomen may be 
 preserved, and thus the natural facies of the insect 
 retained. The contents of the bodies of very large 
 insects may well be removed, either by the anal 
 orifice, or by an incision on the lower side of the 
 abdomen. The Oil-beetles (Meloe) alone require 
 careful stuffing. This is best done by separating the 
 entire abdomen from the metathorax, beneath the 
 elytra, and close to their point of insertion: the 
 body is then easily emptied and washed out, and 
 may be filled with cut-up wool, which packs closely ; 
 when gummed on again, the junction is not visible, 
 
 G 
 
82 BEETLES. 
 
 and the entire insect preserves its wonderfully obese 
 appearance. 
 
 To save time, in mounting many specimens, it is 
 better to merely gum straight on the strip of card as 
 many specimens as can be managed at a sitting. 
 The left side of each of these can then be slightly 
 damped with clear cold water, and its left limbs set 
 out: when all are thus done, the first one will be 
 nearly, if not quite, ready to have its right side 
 treated in like manner ; and so on to the end. Yery 
 refractory specimens will sometimes require to be 
 even held down with little braces of card on pins, 
 and to have each limb damped and set out by a 
 separate operation. The card of large specimens 
 will often curl upwards in drying, owing to the 
 amount of damp : to counteract this, the loiver face 
 of the card may be washed with a wet brush, just 
 before gumming its surface. 
 
 Before putting insects away, when dry, the indi- 
 vidual specimens should be cut off the strips of card 
 by a straight cut on each side, one at right angles 
 to the sides in front, and another behind, all (except 
 the last) close to the tips of the limbs as set out, so 
 that the whole card forms a parallelogram. A very 
 little practice will enable the operator to do this 
 both certainly and quickly. No two individuals 
 (save perhaps a male and female, of whose sexual 
 
BEETLES. 83 
 
 relations there can be no doubt, or an example 
 mounted on its back, to show its under side, along 
 with a member of the same species) should be allowed 
 to continue on one card ; much less should a row be 
 left together. The reason of this is, that in many 
 cases species closely resembling each other often get 
 confused ; and it is, moreover, difficult to get a glass 
 of anything but a very low power to bear upon all 
 parts of the individuals without injuring some of 
 them. Each specimen should have sufficient card 
 left behind it to allow of a glass of high power being 
 passed between it everywhere and its pin. The pin 
 should perforate the card in the middle of, and close 
 to, its hinder margin ; and the whole card be lifted 
 three-fourths up the pin, to keep it from mites and 
 dirt as much as possible. Proper entomological pins 
 can be obtained of all sizes at the agents of Edelsten, 
 17, Silver Street, St. Martin's-le-Grand ; also (with 
 all other apparatus) of any natural-history agent or 
 dealer in London; such as Mr. E. W. Janson, 28, 
 Museum Street, or Cooke, New Oxford Street. 
 "No. 8" pin is, perhaps, the most useful size. In re- 
 moving many specimens, proper insect forceps will be 
 found handy : these can be obtained at the two last 
 addresses ; or of Buck, cutler, Tottenham Court Eoad. 
 Specimens will occasionally become discoloured 
 with grease, usually from defective drying, though 
 
 G 2 
 
84 BEETLES. 
 
 many water beetles and internal feeders, and most 
 autumn-caught specimens, are specially liable to this 
 defect. Benzine is an effectual remedy for it and 
 for mites, and can be liberally applied with a brush. 
 Carbolic or phsenic acid, dissolved in that fluid (or 
 alone, see p. 64), is an effectual safeguard against 
 mould from damp ; and when in solution with water, 
 this acid has been found useful as a wash for card 
 and boxes, which then are not attacked by mites. To 
 re-card a specimen that has become discoloured 
 (whether from either of these causes, or from age), 
 it is only necessary that it should be floated in cold 
 water for a few 'minutes ; the insect can then be 
 dried, well saturated with benzine, and again mounted, 
 looking as fresh as ever. But, in re-carding specimens, 
 it is necessary to be very careful with such as were 
 originally kept too long in a laurel or cyanide bottle^ 
 as they are apt to become so rotten that a little 
 damp will cause a "solution of continuity." 
 
 As to storing the specimens when quite dry, I 
 can add nothing to the excellent observations of Dr. 
 Knaggs, at p. 65 ; the same remarks applying with 
 equal force to Coleoptera ; except, perhaps, that, even 
 when the collector has (and is satisfied with) a 
 cabinet, he is likely, in proportion to the real work 
 done by him, to establish type-boxes of all the 
 difficult groups. 
 
BEETLES. 85 
 
 For the examination of insects, readily manipu- 
 lated by being pinned singly on a square, flat, thick 
 piece of cork or bung, a pocket glass is, of course, 
 necessary. In this case, the best instrument is the 
 cheapest in the long run, whatever its cost ; and one 
 by a good maker, such as Eoss, with modifications of 
 four powers, will suffice for any ordinary work. For 
 very small species, a Coddington, of the clearest 
 definition and highest power attainable, is of im- 
 mense help. But when the collector finds that he 
 needs a compound microscope to separate species, 
 it is the firm opinion of the present writer that 
 that collector had better take to some other pursuit 
 than studying Cokoptera. To anyone, however, whose 
 researches entail an examination of the minute 
 cibarian and other organs of beetles, whether for 
 purposes of classification or otherwise, the compound 
 is absolutely necessary ; though even then the lower 
 powers are usually sufficient. For rough dissection, 
 all that is needed are an oculist's very small lance- 
 headed dissecting-knife and a stout and fine needle. 
 With these, under a lens mounted on a little stage 
 to allow the free use of both hands, much may be 
 done. The writer, however, has seen and used a very 
 pretty (and comparatively inexpensive) dissecting- 
 -stand, with various powers and much latitude Of 
 motion, by Eoss. 
 
86 BEETLES. 
 
 After mentioning that, in sending mounted beetles 
 by post to correspondents, it is far more practical to 
 use a strong box, not too deep, to fasten the pins 
 securely, with a layer of manufactured wool in the 
 lid (glazed side towards the beetles, so as not to 
 catch limbs), and to put more wool outside, and 
 write the address and affix the stamp on a label at- 
 tached, than it is to pack carelessly, write " With 
 care" outside,* and then grumble at the post-office 
 because the insects are broken, I think I cannot^ 
 with use, say anything more upon beetles in their 
 preserved condition ; and I will therefore now give 
 some hints as to their haunts when alive. 
 
 To exhaust the accidental-capture system above 
 alluded to, mention must first be made of sand-pit 
 collecting, a most profitable employment, especially 
 in spring and early summer. A clean, straight-sided 
 silver-sand pit is the best, and if in or near a wood 
 its attractions will be at their highest. Beetles, 
 flying of an evening and by night, dash against the 
 pit sides and fall to the bottom ; others merely crawl 
 in for shelter, or tumble over the sides, and many 
 seem attracted by the mere damp at the bottom or 
 in the corners. Old collectors used to recommend a 
 
 * It is, however, always as well to write " Insects," signifying 
 contents that are " caviare to the million," and therefore not 
 likely to be appropriated en route. 
 
BEETLES. 87 
 
 sheet spread out to attract insects ; and there is no 
 doubt that a certain number can be found by such 
 means, just as they can be picked up floating on 
 horse-troughs or on ponds. Artificial traps exist in 
 the corridors of the Crystal Palace, some half-inclosed 
 country railway stations, and such places ; crawling 
 up the windows of wMeh many specimens are to be 
 found. But these can only be considered as indica- 
 tions of what species occur in the district, as they 
 are mere stragglers. Deliberately laying traps in 
 sand pits, on commons, &c., will be found most pro- 
 ductive. Small dead animals, fir branches, dead 
 leaves, &c., can be examined time after time with 
 profit in such situations. Burying a stout branch 
 with the bark on, leaving the top above the soil, and 
 periodically examining it when damp and nearly 
 rotten, has been found effective; many insects 
 collecting beneath the loose wet bark. 
 
 After heavy floods, as durirg severe droughts, 
 beetles may be found in great profusion; in the 
 former case, by sifting the refuse left by the water ; 
 in the latter, by diligently examining the damp 
 residuum of former ponds, and if no damp be found, 
 by even searching below the surface where it last 
 occurred. 
 
 The wet hay, often decayed and mouldy, at the 
 bottoms of stacks, which bad farmers have placed 
 
88 BEETLES. 
 
 directly on the ground, will be found to teem with 
 beetle-life; as will the margins of dung and vege- 
 table-refuse heaps, wood-stacks, cut grass, &c.; and 
 many good things may be taken by gently waving a 
 light gauze net to and fro, just before sunset, close 
 to such places, whither the instinct of nature impels 
 the flight of myriads. 
 
 In winter, isolated tufts of grass in wet places, on 
 the margins of streams, the crests of banks, &c., must 
 be cut close to the ground, and gently torn in pieces 
 over brown paper. Wherever many insects seem to 
 be found, it will in most of these cases be found 
 advisable to sift the fragments, and bring home the 
 beetles and small stuff unexamined in a bag with a 
 string at the neck to prevent their escape. Moss 
 should be treated in this way, and the layers of black 
 and rotting leaves found in woods, especially at 
 their outskirts. Beech leaves usually produce many 
 species, and the autumn and spring are the best 
 times for hunting for them. 
 
 In winter, also, many species will be found 
 hybernating in grass at the roots of trees, under 
 bark, &c., in conditions not usual with them at 
 other times. 
 
 In autumn, fungi, in woods especially, will be 
 found most productive. 
 
 General sweeping, except during the winter, will 
 
BEETLES. 89 
 
 always be more or less remunerative. No general 
 rules can be laid down for this ; in a good neighbour- 
 hood (on chalk or sand, or, better still, in a district 
 where both these soils are found) beetles will swarm 
 almost anywhere in due season, and the most un- 
 likely-looking spots will frequently be found the 
 best in the end. In luxuriant herbage, among low 
 shrubs, in the close-growing vegetation of hill-sides, 
 the sweeping net may be plied with success ; but the 
 best way, with all Phytophaga at least, is to start 
 with a fixed idea as to catching certain definite 
 species, and then, at the right time, to hunt for such 
 plants as these are known or supposed to frequent ; 
 and, such failing in the district, to try their allies. 
 Of course, the collector will not fail to sweep flowers 
 in woods and lanes, whereon, in the hot sunshine, 
 many showy beetles bask. Many good things will 
 be found by sweeping under fir trees, especially 
 towards evening, and even by night ; in many places, 
 especially marshes, nocturnal feeders may be secured 
 by the vague use of this net. By night, also, many 
 species may be found at sugar put on trees for 
 moths, and on ivy or sallow-blossom. 
 
 Beating is most productive in early summer, 
 especially in the second year's growth of young 
 cuttings in woods ; and the oak, hazel, and poplar 
 will generally yield many species to the tap of the 
 
90 BEETLES. 
 
 stick. Good thick, and especially old hedges, must 
 also be always carefully thrashed into the net; 
 very many good things, otherwise not procurable, 
 will reward this toil. Another scheme for getting 
 rare species is to heat the tops of trees with a long 
 pole, placing beneath a sheet or tent covering. 
 
 Breaking away the extreme edges of banks, 
 throwing water on them, treading heavily on the 
 margins, diligently examining grass and roots close 
 to the water, reeds (especially if cut and on the 
 ground in heaps), &c., will bring to light great 
 numbers of wet-loving beetles. Water beetles, 
 pure and simple, must be dragged and dredged for,, 
 especially round water plants beneath the surface, 
 and along the sides of ponds, in eddies of running 
 streams, in the moss on stones in them, and on the 
 stones themselves, &c. 
 
 The Coprophaga will be found readily in the 
 droppings of various Mammalia, and also in holes 
 bored in the ground beneath, often to a great depth. 
 An easy and clean way to secure them is to throw 
 droppings, ground and all, into water, the beetles 
 coming to the surface. 
 
 As to wood beetles, they must be sought for 
 under and in bark, in solid wood, in decaying 
 branches, and such places ; a rule to be remem- 
 bered is, that most of these occur at the tops of 
 
BEETLES. 91 
 
 trees : hence the paucity of so many species in col- 
 lections. Indeed, to properly hunt for the majority 
 of them, it is necessary to obtain carte blanche and a 
 ladder, if any success be hoped for. Felled trunks 
 are, of course, easy to manipulate ; and their freshly- 
 cut stumps, exuding either resin or a peculiar and 
 often sweet mucor, are very attractive to many 
 beetles, as is freshly-cut sawdust, and most espe- 
 cially the (to us) fetid and acrid juice resulting 
 from the attacks of the larva of the Goat-moth, 
 Rotten fruit, &c., are also not to be passed by with- 
 out examination. Many small species occur in, or 
 can be obtained from, the topmost twigs of trees 
 blown down by the wind. 
 
 Dead animals, as before mentioned, must be ex- 
 amined, as must the vegetation and soil near them. 
 A keeper's tree in a wood will always produce some- 
 thing for the collector, who need only hold his net 
 beneath the gibbeted ferse and bang their hides and 
 bones with his beating-stick. During different 
 stages of decomposition and desiccation, beetles of 
 widely varied affinities will result from this method 
 of collecting. 
 
 Ants' nests would require a special notice, so pro- 
 ductive are they : their material can be sifted and 
 their neighbouring "runs" or paths examined, 
 traps laid near or on them, and periodically cleared 
 
92 BEETLES. 
 
 out, &c. Bees' and wasps' nests also produce good, 
 though fewer species, and are, moreover, not quite 
 so easy of access. The nests of birds, especially if 
 the latter are gregarious, and, indeed, the habita- 
 tions of any animals, will be found to harbour many 
 beetles, amongst other insects. 
 
 In gardens, the beetle collector should lay cun- 
 ning traps of cut grass, twigs, planks, bones, &c. ; 
 by a periodical examination of which he will secure 
 many good things. If there be a hothouse about 
 the premises, it and its belongings will always act 
 as a bait. 
 
 Large tracts of waste land and commons, though 
 superficially apparently unproductive, often contain 
 congregations of good species, in some little oasis 
 of damp or vegetation ; moreover, on them several 
 peculiar beetles occur. Hills and mountains will 
 often suddenly repay the toil of the collector, who 
 has despondently worked his way up, turning over 
 stones, and finding comparatively nothing. The 
 moss, &c., attending the channels of any streams in 
 such places should be carefully searched, and the 
 stones on the top especially not neglected. Kiver 
 banks and salt marshes are invariably frequented by 
 good insects, and the very heaps of seaweed, dry or 
 wet, on the shore harbour countless beetles. In 
 such places small sand-loving plants should be 
 
BEETLES. 93 
 
 pulled up by the roots, and, with the neighbouring 
 soil, shaken over brown paper. The sand itself 
 may in many instances be scraped, and burrowing 
 beetles brought to light; but if the hunter comes 
 upon a dead fish or bird, a full bottle will be his. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that almost every locality 
 contains beetles, if the collector can only detect 
 them (and it may be as well here to impress on him 
 that it is better to bottle a dubious insect and ex- 
 amine it at home, than to reject it for being appa- 
 rently common). Still there can be no doubt that 
 certain soils and districts are much more productive 
 than others ; for instance, most of the midland and 
 western counties, and some of the south-western, 
 are not by any means so prolific as the eastern, 
 southern, and many parts of the northern districts 
 of Great Britain; clay being the worst of all soils 
 for the Coleopterist. 
 
 The collector will do well, after a first hurried 
 "burst" at all beetles that come in his way, to 
 select a special group, and lay himself out to work it 
 carefully, buying or borrowing the works of autho- 
 rities upon it, and making himself master of the 
 "botany connected with it, if it be a group of plant- 
 frequenting habits. By such a way of working, he 
 will more quickly, though step by step, acquire a 
 good collection, and a stock of useful knowledge, 
 
D4: BEETLES. 
 
 than by any other. He will of course keep a register 
 of the date and place of capture, and any pecu- 
 liarity of habit of each insect he takes. Figures of 
 the date of the year (usually the last two are suffi- 
 cient), followed by another set, commencing with 1, 
 will generally be quite enough ; corresponding entries 
 being made in the first column of a ruled diary. 
 These figures may be written in ink on the under 
 -side of the card of a mounted specimen, or on a 
 circular disc of paper, pierced by the pin of one too 
 large to be carded. 
 
HYMENOPTERA. 95 
 
 VI. 
 
 HYMENOPTERA. 
 BY JOHN B. BRIDGMAN. 
 
 HAVING been asked to give some instructions as to 
 the method of setting and preserving the aculeate 
 Hymenoptera, it is with great pleasure I comply, 
 and I hope it may be the means of inducing others 
 to collect these insects. To begin at the beginning, 
 it is almost needless to state that the females of all 
 of them (a few of the ants excepted) are furnished 
 with stings, but with very little care one need never 
 be stung. As Mrs. Glass says, " First catch your 
 hare " : so first I shall give a few instructions where 
 to look for and how to catch these insects. All the 
 apparatus necessary is a gauze ring-net, a cyanide 
 bottle, and a pocket full of small card pill-boxes; 
 the cyanide bottle is best made by wrapping a small 
 piece of cyanide of potassium in two or three thick- 
 nesses of blotting-paper, tying it round with cotton 
 to prevent it shaking out, then fixing it to the 
 bottom of a wide-mouthed flat bottle with sealing- 
 wax, which is made to adhere firmly to the glass 
 by heating the glass carefully over a lamp, and then 
 
96 HYMENOPTEKA. 
 
 corking it up. The pill-boxes ought to have the tops 
 and bottoms fastened in with liquid glue (a prepara- 
 tion of shell-lac). These are all that are required 
 to catch and bring home the game ; which is to be 
 looked for at the flowers of trees, bushes, and plants 
 one season's experience will teach the best, as 
 some species frequent one, some another, and some 
 almost all. The flowers I have found the greatest 
 favourites are sallows, willows, sycamore, holly, 
 blackthorn, bramble, hawk weeds, ragwort, thistles, 
 and umbellifersB. Some bore in putrescent wood, 
 and must be looked for on or in the neighbourhood 
 of old posts and palings; some are to be found 
 flying about dry banks, hard-trodden pathways, on 
 heaths, while old sand pits are favourite places ; but 
 they should be sought for in any warm, rough, 
 weedy spot ; and some may be obtained by digging 
 them out of their burrows with a trowel. My plan 
 of proceeding, after having got one in the net, is to 
 catch hold of the net so that the insect is inclosed 
 in a sort of sack, I then uncork the cyanide, and 
 introduce that into the sack, holding the net firmly 
 round the neck of the bottle, so that there is no- 
 other escape for the insect from the net but into the 
 bottle, then gradually work the insect into the 
 bottle and close the mouth with several folds of the 
 net, watch my opportunity and insert the cork: 
 
HYMENOPTERA. UV 
 
 when the insect is stupefied, which happens in a few 
 seconds if the bottle is slightly warm, I turn it into 
 the pill-box. A word of caution : it is necessary to 
 be methodical in carrying the boxes. I always keep 
 the empty ones in my right-hand pocket, and the 
 filled ones in the left-hand one, as, if they are 
 carried sometimes one way, sometimes another, 
 sooner or later a previously filled one will be opened 
 to put an insect in, which will result in the former 
 tenant speedily making room for the new comer ; 
 and my experience has been, if you do lose anything 
 it is generally your best capture. 
 
 Having got home with the left-hand pocket more 
 or less filled, turn the boxes out, preparatory to 
 killing the contents, which must be done with burnt 
 sulphur. My mode of proceeding is as follows: 
 I stupefy the contents of each box with chloroform, 
 
 in a manner I will describe farther on. Having 
 
 & 
 
 stupefied them, I empty them all into a short, wide- 
 rnouthed, round bottle, having a piece of glass tube 
 put through the cork; the mouth of the tube is 
 plugged with cotton wool, not too tight, to act as a 
 strainer. I then put this in a Nabob pickle-bottle 
 (any other bottle will do as well), through the 
 stopper of which I have drilled a hole about a six- 
 teenth of an inch in diameter, in which is fixed a 
 copper wire, having a shallow tin cup at the end. 
 
 H 
 
98 HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 In this tin cup is placed the sulphur. The tin cup 
 is then held over the flame of a lamp, gas, or candle, 
 till the sulphur is burning, then put it into the 
 bottle and press it down. When all the oxygen is 
 consumed the sulphur goes out. Leave them for 
 about three hours, take them out, and put them into 
 a damp box for twelve or more hours : they will 
 then be in a splendid condition for setting. To 
 stupefy the insects I tip the lids on one side, put 
 them into the sulphur bottle, pour a drop or two 
 into the tin cup, and put it into the bottle. Be 
 careful not to chloroform them too much, as if 
 killed so they become so rigid that it is with diffi- 
 culty they can be set. 
 
 Having killed them, there only remains to pin and 
 set them. There are various sizes of pins used; 
 most collectors have fancies of their own on this 
 subject ; I shall therefore only say what is my prac- 
 tice. The pins I use are D. F. Tayler & Co.'s, New 
 Hall Works, Birmingham ; No. 15 for bumble-bees 
 only ; the other sizes I find most useful are 15, 10, 
 and 18. Some pin the insects straight, and some 
 with the pin inclining forward. Having pinned 
 them, the next thing is to set them. There are two 
 ways of doing this ; one is, cut an oblong square of 
 iout cardboard, and put a pin through one end ; 
 after the legs are stretched out, this is put int the 
 
HYMENOPTERA. 
 
 99 
 
 . 28. 
 
 cork, one on each side, till the upper surface of cork 
 is just below the level ot the wings, which are then 
 laid out on the card, and held there by a brace the 
 same shape as the table (see Fig. 28). If the in- 
 sect has been pro- 
 perly killed, the legs 
 and antenna? will 
 keep set out without 
 the aid of pins; if 
 not, this is done 
 with bent or straight 
 pins, as may be ne- 
 cessary. The other 
 way is a " hymn 
 of my own com- 
 posing." 
 
 First take one of 
 the strips of cork as 
 sold at the shops, 
 paper it on both 
 sides with thin soft 
 paper; then take a 
 
 piece of wood a little larger than the cork, about 
 half an inch thick ; on this I glue strips of card- 
 board, or thin wood, according to the size of the 
 insect, side by side, and as far apart as necessary 
 (see Fig. 29). These being dry, I glue the sheet of 
 
 H 2 
 
 Insect set with Table Braces. 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 Wood, with the Strips glued on. 
 
100 HYMENOPTER A. 
 
 cork on to the top of the .strips, which leaves it 
 looking like a succession of bridges. When this is 
 dry the cork must be cut through between the 
 pieces first fastened on the wood. These pieces are 
 then taken out and glued to the wood (see Fig. 30); 
 
 Fig. 30. . 
 
 Ditto, side view. A, the same with the cork glued on ; B, cork ; 
 C, the same with the cork cut through at the dotted lines in A, and 
 i'astened down. 
 
 this leaves many setting boards, something similar 
 to the single rounded ones used by Lepidopterists ; 
 but these are flat they want to be just deep enough 
 for the insect and wide enough to allow the legs to 
 be stretched out. A little practice will soon deter- 
 mine the size. The wing I hold down with small 
 triangular braces. Each board will hold about 
 seventy or eighty insects; beneath I put the date 
 they were set, and leave them on the board about a 
 month to dry, as if taken off too soon the wings 
 spring. Always put a label to each specimen, either 
 with the date or a number corresponding to one in 
 a book, in which enter the date and locality. 
 
 One more observation and I have done. Some- 
 times one comes across an insect whose rigid wings. 
 
HYMEXOPTERA. 101 
 
 seem to defy all attempts to set; in such cass 
 just press firmly at the back part of the thorax, 
 between that and the abdomen, towards the pin, 
 and the wings will sometimes fly open of their own 
 accord, or will allow of their being easily set in the 
 required direction, which should always be set well 
 forward. 
 
102 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 VII. 
 
 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 BY PROFESSOR RALPH TATE, F.G.S., ETC. 
 
 A YOUNG friend, desirous of entering upon one of the 
 most accessible natural history pursuits, that of 
 the study of Land and Freshwater Molluscs, begged 
 of me some practical hints on the collection and 
 preservation of these objects of our woodlands, way- 
 sides, and watercourses. Believing that this kind 
 of work offers a good stepping-stone to the study of 
 nature in its more extended forms and complicated 
 relations, I was most anxious to help my tyro na- 
 turalist, and that beyond his utmost expectations, 
 as I made a few initiatory trips with him in a search 
 for the coveted treasures. 
 
 Our equipment was simple and inexpensive, con- 
 sisting of a block-tin saucepan finely perforated at 
 the bottom, about six inches across, and having a 
 hollow handle of a size to receive firmly the end of a 
 common walking-stick such a dredge or a sifter will 
 cost ninepenqe or a shilling at a tinman's; secondly,, 
 of a pocket lens ; and lastly, of a variety of boxes, 
 and a bag to contain specimens of different sizes. 
 Thus provided, our first excursion had for its object 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 103 
 
 an examination of certain neighbouring ponds and 
 stieams. My pupil, guessing the use of the per- 
 forated saucepan, makes his way to the nearest pond, 
 fixes the improvised handle, dashes in the sifter with 
 impatient ardour, and having brought up a quantity 
 of mud from the bottom, looked upon the oozy mass 
 with despair. Patience, my lad ! Kemember that 
 the pleasure of success in science is the higher 
 the greater the labour expended in obtaining the 
 objects of our search. Expect failure now and again, 
 but do not be disheartened. Ohne Hast ohne East, 
 should be the motto of every naturalist. Now, shake 
 the tin in the water, keeping its rim just out of the 
 water, dipping it down now and then. That is well ; 
 thus you see that you have cleared off the mud, and 
 what you want is probably left behind along with 
 the rubbish. What, nothing ! Come, try again ; but 
 this time scrape the sifter along the surface of the 
 mud, and I am confident that you will find some- 
 thing to reward you, and with much less trouble and 
 display of temper. In this way, after repeated trials, 
 a number of shells were secured and transferred to 
 the boxes. Then, after the first gush of excitement is 
 over, we retire to an adjoining bank to con over the 
 spoils, and I to make mention of the various habits 
 of freshwater snails, and consequently of the different 
 modes of search. My young friend's enthusiasm is 
 
104 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 aroused by the mention that a few large mussel-like 
 shells are inhabitants of our fresh waters, and great 
 is his haste to be up and again doing, in the hope of 
 adding some of them to his stock. But in vain were 
 his many attempts to find them in the pond which 
 had already yielded us such a variety. " Do tliey 
 live here ? " is at last the anxious question. " No ; 
 but let us away to yon sluggish brook, for it is in 
 such that we may expect to meet with them." '' New 
 I see them. Are not those their ends just peeping 
 above the mud ? " And full of eagerness he dashes 
 in the dredge, but with little result, excepting that of 
 a dead shell or two. " Oh ! how can I get them ? 
 Shall I take oft" my shoes and socks and wade for 
 them ?" "Well, you might secure them that way, 
 and sometimes it is the only way, but on this occasion 
 I do not think it necessary. Come, we will move a 
 little higher up, where the stream is clear, and the 
 shellfish undisturbed. Observe the gaping ends of 
 the shell, and thus I push the end of the stout rod 
 between the partially-open valves ; now they close 
 upon the stick, and so we bring our prize holding on 
 to the stick to the bank." 
 
 "You will recollect," addressing my companion, 
 " that in the muddy pond we have just left, we chiefly 
 got small bivalves and only a few snail shells. I 
 have already told you that water shells differ much 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 105 
 
 in their habits, and that consequently our 'search 
 for any particular species, or set of species, can only 
 be successfully carried on when that knowledge is 
 our guide. Those little bivalves, and a few of the 
 snails that we have gathered, habitually live at the 
 bottom, and will of course be brought up in the 
 dredge when that implement is dragged over it ; 
 but there are many shells which live at or near the 
 surface, and which feed on the submerged and float- 
 ing plants. Therefore we must seek out a weedy 
 pool if we would increase the variety of our collec- 
 tion." Such a spot is reached ; and the dredge is 
 brought into requisition, anon to snatch up a float- 
 ing snail, or again to sweep over and through the 
 plants, varying our occupation by dragging to the 
 margin the tangled masses of weeds ; by all of 
 which means a considerable number of the class of 
 air-breathing water snails was obtained admonish- 
 ing my young friend that this last plan does very 
 well when the plants grow in dense masses, because 
 when thus interlaced they form a natural net to 
 catch those snails which on the slightest disturbance 
 lose their hold upon the weeds, and which would 
 otherwise fall to the bottom. 
 
 Yet another plan remains to be pursued, one by 
 which the few small shells hiding among the roots 
 of the plants may be secured. Obviously the dredge 
 
106 LAND AND FKESHWATEK SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 misses such ; but by pulling up the plants by their 
 roots, and well shaking them in the half-sunken 
 sifter, we yet after all obtain them. 
 
 From causes which need not be explained here,, 
 the shells living in some ponds are all much eroded, 
 or coated with a ferruginous deposit; it will be 
 desirable therefore to find out the localities where 
 specimens are in the best condition, so that you may 
 have typical specimens for comparison before an 
 extensive collection is made. 
 
 Our experience is, that though a considerable 
 number of species may be obtained from a ditch or 
 pond, yet a few are found as the sole molluscan 
 tenants of particular sheets of water; that lakes 
 exhibit a dearth of life, and that the greatest va- 
 riety is often to be met with in canals ; but should 
 a search be carried on in them, avoid the towpath 
 side, for reasons that a little thought will readily 
 suggest. 
 
 Living near the sea, and within a short distance 
 of wooded hill-sides, we had within a limited area 
 such a variety of physical features that we were led 
 to infer the existence of a rich molluscan fauna for 
 the neighbourhood. Our second excursion was de- 
 voted to a search for snails along the sea margin 
 and shores of the estuary. Proceeding along the 
 low sand-dunes at first sight a most uninteresting: 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 107 
 
 spot Helix caperata, H. virgata, Bidimus 'acutus, 
 and a few other snails, were found clustering upon 
 the low stunted vegetation in such numbers, that 
 hand fills might have been gathered within an area 
 of a few square feet. Leaving the seashore, our 
 way led us over the foreshore of the mouth of the 
 river, crushing under our feet at every step shells 
 of Cardium edule, Scrobicularia piperata, and a few 
 other bivalves which find a congenial habitat in. 
 such situations. Gaining the muddy margins of the 
 higher part of the estuary, Conovulus was looked for,, 
 and found under the stones along the high-water 
 mark. Higher up the river the rejectamentum on 
 its banks was carefully turned over, and we were 
 successful in securing a number of land shells. The 
 animals, of course, do not live in such places ; but 
 their empty shells, which alone were found, had been, 
 brought down from the land surface by the agency 
 of the streams and tributaries of the river. Never- 
 theless such an omnium gatherum should demand 
 attention, as its contents give an insight into the 
 character of the land and freshwater forms within 
 the area of drainage of the river. 
 
 The number of estuarine species which have a 
 place in our works devoted to British land and 
 freshwater snails is very few, and the majority, 
 moreover, are confined to the margins of the tidal 
 
108 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 rivers in the south of England. Thus Assiminea 
 Grayana^ Hydrobia ventrosa, and H. similis, live on 
 the mud banks beneath the shade of sedges and 
 rushes, skirting the Thames below Greenwich. To 
 gather these small shells singly is a tedious opera- 
 tion ; but if a thin piece of flat wood, or other 
 substitute as the ingenuity of the collector suggests, 
 be used to scrape lightly over the surface of mud, 
 transferring the mass to the dredger, and washing in 
 water, a number of specimens sufficient to stock 
 every private cabinet in the country may be obtained 
 jn a short space of time. 
 
 For the third initiatory excursion our steps were 
 directed inland, and as we proceeded the hedgerows, 
 mossy banks, and margins of watercourses were 
 diligently searched, finding a Helix here, a Pupa or 
 a Succinea there. Gaining the woods, we turn over 
 the damp leaves, grub under the clumps of ferns 
 and wood-rushes for small Helices, Pupae, and the 
 like ; scan the trunks of the trees for the climbing 
 ClausilidSj Bulimi, and Helices, not unmindful that 
 each little dirt-like mass is probably a Bulimus 
 -obseurus, which, by covering its shell with mud, thus 
 exhibits a protective faculty, and often escapes de- 
 tection. Eaise the rotting bark for Balia ; lift the 
 .stones at our feet, or roll away a log for Helicella, 
 

 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 109 
 
 and other small shells which usually live in such 
 situations. 
 
 From all this we learn that each species affects 
 certain stations, and therefore, with the knowledge 
 of the circumstances in which they are found, we 
 may set out with some definite idea as to what we 
 are likely to meet with ; and, in consequence, when 
 to collect and where to collect are regulated by the 
 unvarying habits of the objects of our search. 
 
 Now, a large portion of the life of most land snails 
 is passed in a state of sleep. Those living in open 
 situations are inactive during the heat of a summer's 
 day, and when there is continued drought; but on 
 the first shower, or after the fall of dew at night, 
 they recover and move about in search of food. 
 Cold acts much in the same way as heat, and 
 with the fall of the leaf they retire to winter quarters 
 in crannies of rocks, crevices of walls, under heaps of 
 decaying vegetation, &c., or bury themselves in the 
 soil, there to hybernate till the genial showers of 
 spring awaken them. 
 
 The best time of the year for collecting is in the 
 autumn, when the shells are full-grown. Those 
 collected in spring have lost much of their original 
 beauty by exposure to the rains and cold of the 
 winter months. 
 
110 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 As regards the particular time of day to collect 
 with advantage, it has already been implied that a 
 search in an open country should be prosecuted after 
 a shower of rain, or during early morn. In damp 
 woods, where throughout the day the air is suffi- 
 ciently moist to maintain the animals in full activity, 
 no such considerations determine the best time for 
 collecting. In such places, light is usually the 
 desideratum, and consequently I have found that 
 a search conducted at midday in a clear sky has been 
 amply rewarded. 
 
 Land snails exhibit a partiality for calcareous 
 soils, not only by those living on downs and hill- 
 sides, but also by the woodland species. 
 
 Having spent the forenoons of three days in 
 gathering slugs and snails as before detailed, one 
 evening was devoted to the preparation of the speci- 
 mens for the cabinet. 
 
 The first step was to remove the animals, and, as 
 all know, it is neither an easy nor a cleanly task to 
 separate the living snail and its house ; but kill your 
 snail, and the muscular connection with the shell 
 being severed, its whole body is readily taken out 
 by means of a pin why, it is just like picking 
 periwinkles; and if the proclivities of our child- 
 hood's days are not entirely obliterated, cleaning out 
 larger snails from their shells will be a task re- 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. Ill 
 
 quiring no teaching. But, with regard to the smaller 
 kind, it is another matter, and it will be my duty to 
 show you how to set about the work. 
 
 Now pick out those shells, the apertures of which 
 are wide enough, as it seems to you, to permit the 
 removal of the dead body of the snail by a pin. You 
 may also place with them the larger bivalves. All 
 these we will boil to kill the animals ; then strain 
 off the water, and wash with cold water. By this 
 means the bodies contract, and being firmer are not 
 so liable to be broken in the process of removal. 
 Shake the water out of the empty shell, and place 
 them before the fire to dry ; do not rub them, but 
 particles of dirt may be gently flicked off by the aid 
 of a camel-hair brush. Thus we treat the larger 
 
 o 
 
 snails. Now for the mussels. Doubtless most of 
 the dead bodies will have fallen out between the 
 open valves while in the water ; should any remain, 
 a slight shaking of the shell held by the hand in the 
 water will remove the contained body. Taken from 
 the water, the valves gape widely ; dry the inside 
 and outside with a cloth, and having tape or cotton 
 at hand, close the valves by the pressure of the 
 thumb and fingers of the one hand, and with the 
 end of the thread between your teeth, wind the 
 thread two or three times around the shell with the 
 other ; now tie the thread as tight as you can. " Yes, 
 
112 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 I have done so, but still the valves are not closed/* 
 True, this is because of the elasticity of thread. If, 
 however, you will take the precaution to wet the 
 thread before tying, you will find that the tie is 
 more secure, and that there is less difficulty in 
 making the second knot. 
 
 With patience and a little skill, bivalves as small 
 as Cyclas cornea may be treated in this way. But 
 the smaller Ptsidiums, and some of the minute snails,, 
 as Carycliimti minimum, may be prepared for the 
 cabinet by gently drying them in sand ; too great 
 a heat causes a transfusion of the carbonaceous 
 matter of the animal into the substance of the shell, 
 which is thereby discoloured. 
 
 There still remain for treatment such shells as 
 Clausilia, Bulimus, Helicella, some Helices, &c., the 
 animals of which retreat, on the least irritation, 
 beyond the reach of a pin, and whose shells, indeed, 
 will hardly bear the rough handling almost necessary 
 when a pin is used. Their bodies might be dried 
 within the shells, but if it be possible to remove 
 some portion only of the animal, an attempt should 
 be made to do so. 
 
 Land snails, when placed in water, do their best 
 to effect an escape from a medium so fatal to them ; 
 their efforts are usually exhibited by stretching out 
 their bodies to the utmost, swaying them to and fro 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 113 
 
 as if in search of a foothold. Taking advantage of 
 this propensity, the snails should be immersed in 
 tepid water, because the majority, after a day or 
 two's confinement in the collecting boxes, will be in 
 a dormant condition, and warm water has a greater 
 resuscitating effect than cold. When all the snails 
 are struggling to find a way out of their unpleasant 
 situation, gradually add hot water so as to kill or 
 paralyze them while in an extended state. They 
 may now be thrown into boiling water, the better 
 to relax the muscular attachments, and the bodies, 
 or so much as will come away, dragged out by for- 
 ceps, or a pin passed through the foot. The shells 
 may now be dried in sand, as before mentioned. 
 
 In cleaning the shells of some species, great care 
 is needed, so as not to remove the hairs or bristles 
 which clothe the surface of the epidermis. 
 
 The shells of such snails as Paludina, Cydostoma, 
 &c., &c., would be imperfectly illustrated without the 
 opercula or lids which close the apertures of their 
 shells. Each one should be detached from the foot 
 of the srail, the interior of the shell plugged with 
 cotton wool, and the specimen gummed down in its 
 natural position. 
 
 The preservation of slugs requires separate treat- 
 ment, and I can give but little additional inform- 
 ation to that published in my 'British Land and 
 
114 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 Freshwater Molluscs,' an extract from which is 
 subjoined : 
 
 " As regards the internal shell, it may be obtained 
 by making a conical incision in the shield, taking 
 care not to cut down upon the calcareous plate, 
 which can then be removed without difficulty. The 
 animals can only be conserved by keeping them in 
 some preservative fluid; but the great object to 
 keep in view is to have the slug naturally extended. 
 Most fluids contract the slugs when they are im- 
 mersed in them. The slugs should be killed whilst 
 crawling, by plunging them into a solution of cor- 
 rosive sublimate, or into benzine. Models in wax 
 or dough are sometimes substituted for the animals. 
 A writer in the ' Naturalist ' gives a process for the 
 preservation of slugs, which he states to answer 
 admirably, and to be very superior to spirit, glyce- 
 rine, creosote, and other solutions : ' Make a cold 
 saturated solution of corrosive sublimate ; put it into 
 a deep wide-mouthed bottle ; then take the slug you 
 wish to preserve, and let it crawl upon a long slip 
 of card. When the tentacles are fully extended, 
 plunge it suddenly into the solution; in a few 
 minutes it will die, with the tentacles fully extended 
 in the most life-like manner ; so much so indeed, if 
 taken out of the fluid it would be difficult to say 
 whether it be alive or dead. The slugs thus pre- 
 
LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 115 
 
 pared should not be mounted in spirit, as it is apt to 
 contract and discolour them. A mixture of one and 
 a half parts of water and one part of glycerine, I 
 find to be the best mounting fluid. It preserves 
 the colour beautifully, and its antiseptic qualities 
 are unexceptionable. A good-sized test-tube answers 
 better than a bottle for putting them up, as it admits 
 of closer examination of the animal. The only draw- 
 back to this process is, that unless the solution is of 
 sufficient strength, and unless the tentacles are ex- 
 truded when the animal is immersed, it generally, 
 but not invariably, fails. Some slugs appear to be 
 more susceptible to the action of the fluid than 
 others ; and it generally answers better with full- 
 grown than with young specimens. But if suc- 
 cessful, the specimens are as satisfactory as could be 
 desired ; and even if unsuccessful, they are a great 
 deal better than those preserved in spirit; for, 
 although the tentacles may not be completely ex- 
 truded, they are more or less so.' " 
 
 The Testacellae I have treated in the following 
 manner : by partially drying them in sand, and re- 
 moval of the soft parts through a cut in the length 
 of the foot, filling up with cotton wool and a renewal 
 of the drying. 
 
 Our land and freshwater snails have other struc- 
 tures besides their shells which should claim our 
 
 i 2 
 
116 LAND AND FRESHWATER SHELLS, ETC. 
 
 attention. These, which include their jaws, tongues,, 
 and some other minute parts, are not so inaccessible 
 as one is at first too apt to consider, and are de- 
 servedly in favour as microscopic objects requiring 
 a low power. I shall assume that the collector has 
 preserved the bodies or the heads of the snails in 
 spirit, which he has removed from their shells in the 
 process of preparing them for his cabinet. He will 
 take care to keep separate the animals of each 
 species. 
 
 A last word upon the mode of displaying the 
 shells in the cabinet. Here one has considerable 
 choice, as they may be kept in open card trays, or 
 in glass-topped boxes, or gummed on cards, papered 
 boards, or glass tablets. Loose specimens admit of 
 ready examination, whilst the method of mounting 
 permits an arrangement of individuals according to 
 size and locality, and is much to be preferred. 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND PERNS. Ill 
 
 VIII. 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 BY JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE kindred subjects of the collecting of plants and 
 their arrangement in the herbarium have been 
 treated of over and over again, and it might almost 
 seem as though nothing further need be said upon 
 the matter. But in spite of all that has been 
 written, it cannot be said that anything like uniform 
 excellence has been attained, either in the collecting 
 or drying of specimens : on the contrary, much care- 
 lessness is still exhibited in both particulars, and the 
 following remarks on the subject may therefore be 
 useful to some, at any rate, among the readers of 
 ' Science Gossip.' It has been found impossible to 
 treat both points adequately in one paper, so, on the 
 present occasion, we shall devote ourselves to col- 
 lecting, leaving the arrangement and matters con- 
 nected therewith for another occasion. 
 
 The great aim to be kept in view in collecting is 
 to obtain as perfect and comprehensive a specimen 
 as possible ; that is, one showing every part of the 
 .plant root, leaves, flowers, and fruit. It is not 
 
118 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 Fif. 31. 
 
 foung Plant of Ipomcea QuamocUt (from Decandolle's ' Organogvaphie % 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 119 
 
 always practicable to show all these upon one speci- 
 men, and in such cases such a number must be 
 selected as will carry out this plan. The wretched 
 scraps with which some collectors content themselves 
 are not only useless to their owners, but annoyances 
 to everyone who has to do with them, or who is 
 requested to pronounce an opinion upon them. 
 Anyone who has had anything to do with naming 
 plants for * Science Gossip,' or any other journal, 
 which in this manner supplies information to its 
 subscribers, will be able to testify to the large 
 number of persons who do not scruple to send for 
 determination single leaves, or a terminal shoot of a 
 flowering plant, or a pinnule of a fern without fruit ; 
 a proceeding which is unfair to those to whom they 
 are submitted, inasmuch as they either have to risk 
 their reputation for accuracy, or to appear un- 
 courteous by refusing to have anything to do with 
 such specimens. 
 
 To begin at the beginning, How rarely do we find 
 the embryo of any species represented in a collection 
 of dried plants? It ought to be there, not only as 
 essential to the complete presentment of the history 
 of the species, but as in certain cases indicating 
 relationships which are not apparent when the plant 
 is more advanced. Those who have not observed 
 them would be surprised to find how much variety 
 of form exists in the cotyledons alone, from the 
 
120 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 fleshy cotyledons of many of the Leguminosse, the 
 horse-chestnut, &c., to the foliaceous ones, or seed- 
 leaves, of other plants. Among the latter may be 
 noted and compared the lobed or palmate cotyledons 
 of the lime (Fig. 32) ; the glossy dark green, some- 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 Lime (Tilia Europaa). 
 
 what kidney-shaped ones of the beech (Fig, 33); 
 and the pinnatifid ones of the common garden cress 
 (Lepidium sativum) ; the obcordate ones of the mus- 
 tard or radish ; the long, narrow, thin ones of the 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 121 
 
 sycamore (Fig. 34) ; the sinuous or corrugated and 
 bilobed ones of the walnut, and many more which will 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 Beech (Fagus sylvaticet). 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 occur to the observant reader, or which may be col- 
 lected by anyone who will take the trouble to watch 
 the germination of plants. And by making such 
 collections, unexpected discoveries may arise, which 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus), showing cotyledons and first and 
 second pair of leaves. 
 
 will yet further confirm what has been said about 
 the variety in form and structure even in these 
 beginnings of growth. Plants which are, on ac- 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 123 
 
 count of their general affinities, reckoned among the 
 dicotyledons, may be found on investigation to have 
 but one cotyledon, as Dr. Dickson observed to be 
 the case with two of our butterworts, Pinguicula 
 vulgaris and P. grandiflora, the third species, P. lusi- 
 tanica, being dicotyledonous ; or even to be acoty- 
 ledonous, as is the case with the dodder (Cuscuta).. 
 In the latter-named genus, it is of importance to 
 collect young specimens, as showing that the plant, 
 although parasitic as soon as it comes in contact with 
 a suitable foster-plant, is of independent origin. A 
 search among young plants will no doubt lead to the 
 discovery of some abnormalities, such as tricotyle- 
 donous embryos and other irregularities. Of some 
 plants, such as the furze, the true leaves can only be 
 found at an early stage of growth ; in others, much 
 variation may be noted in many points between the 
 first leaves and the more perfect ones which succeed 
 them ; some, as the holly, at once developing leaves, 
 similar to those which are produced throughout the 
 life of the plant, and others going through many 
 modifications before the ultimate shape is attained,. 
 as in the ash, elder, ivy, maple, &c. 
 
 The roots or rhizomes also require to be much 
 more fully represented and carefully collected than 
 is usually the case. In every instance where the 
 size of the plant does not prevent, the subterranean. 
 
124 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 and subaqueous parts should be carefully procured 
 and preserved. 
 
 Dr. Trimen has lately directed attention to the 
 corm-like tubers of the water plantain (AUsma)* 
 closely resembling those of the arrowhead (Sagitta- 
 ria), which have been described and figured by 
 Nolte, but " do not seem to have been observed, or 
 at least properly understood, in this country. They 
 are buds remaining dormant through the winter, 
 and containing a store of nutriment, to be employed 
 in the development of the new plant from the tuber 
 in the next year." Similar bulbs are developed by 
 the frogbit (Hydrocharis). In determining many 
 grasses and rushes, it is of importance to ascertain 
 whether the rhizome is creeping or caespitose, and it 
 is therefore essential to collect good specimens. In 
 the case of such plants as the coral- wort (Dentaria 
 bullifera) and toothwort (Lafhrsea squamaria), the 
 root-stocks are eminently characteristic. Of such 
 parasites as the broomrapes (Orobanche), some care 
 is requisite in obtaining specimens in which the 
 connection between the parasite and its foster-plant 
 may be preserved and shown. The absence or pre- 
 sence of tubers should also be noted, and if present, 
 they must be represented. 
 
 Passing on to the leaves, we may note the im- 
 
 * * Journal of Botany/ 1871, p. 306. 
 
FLOWERING PLA.NTS AND FERNS. 
 
 portance of obtaining in every case the root-leaves 
 of each species. These are often very different in 
 form from the stem-leaves, as in such species as the 
 harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), Pimpinella saxi- 
 fraga, the earth-nut (Bunium flexuosum), and many 
 more ; in some instances, as in the Jersey bugloss 
 (Echium plantagineum), they at once characterize 
 the species. Still more important are these lower 
 leaves in the case of water-plants : in the arrowhead 
 (Sagittaria), for example, they are narrow, and re- 
 semble those of the bur-reed (Sparganium) ; and in 
 the water plantain (Alisma plantago), the submerged 
 leaves are equally different from those which rise out 
 of the water. This difference is still more noticeable 
 in the case of the aquatic Ranunculi, where a know- 
 ledge of the submerged leaves is essential to the 
 discrimination of the various forms or species. 
 
 Where practicable, the whole plant should be 
 collected for the herbarium ; but when, from its size, 
 this cannot be accomplished, leaves from the root, 
 the centre of the main stem, and the lateral branches, 
 should be taken. As to the stem itself, that must 
 be represented : in the EM, indeed, it is essential. 
 " To judge properly of a bramble from a preserved 
 specimen," says Professor Babington, " we require a 
 piece of the middle of the stem with more than one 
 leaf ; the base and tip of the stem are also desirable, 
 
126 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 likewise a piece of the old stem with the flowering 
 shoot attached to it ; the panicle with flowers, and 
 the fruit. We likewise want to know the direction 
 of the stem throughout, of the leaflets, and of the 
 calyx ; also the shape of the petals and the colour 
 of the styles : a note of these should be made when 
 the specimen is gathered." 
 
 Passing on to the flowers, we shall find it neces- 
 sary to represent them in almost every stage, from 
 the bud to the perfecting of the fruit. It is of 
 course in most cases possible to select an example 
 in such a state as to show upon the same plant buds, 
 flowers, and fruits; but where this is not the case, 
 each of these particulars must be supplemented by 
 additional specimens. The turn which botanical 
 investigation has recently taken towards the study 
 of the phenomena connected with fertilization has 
 given the collector another subject to which his 
 -attention may be profitably directed. It has been 
 observed that in some plants the stamens are de- 
 veloped before the pistils ; in others, the pistils are 
 matured before the stamens; while in yet a third 
 set, stamens and pistils are simultaneously perfected. 
 These three groups of plants are termed respectively 
 protandrous, protogynous, and cynacmic, and a very 
 little observation will show 7 that examples of each 
 are sufficiently common. 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 127 
 
 Then in dioecious and monoecious plants, both 
 male and female flowers must be collected, and in 
 some cases, as in the willows, four specimens are 
 accessary to the complete presentment of the species, 
 showing respectively the male and female catkins, 
 the leaves, and the fruit. Some plants produce two 
 listinct forms of blossom, as is noticeable in the 
 violets and the woodsorrel, one being conspicuous 
 and usually barren, the other insignificant and often 
 apetalous, but producing perfect fruit. The pollen 
 will afford occupation to the microscopist : the re- 
 searches of Mr. Gulliver and Mr. Charles Bailey 
 have demonstrated that important distinguishing 
 characters are in some instances furnished by it. 
 While on this point it may be suggested that it is 
 convenient in many cases to collect several specimens 
 jf the flowers alone, which, when dried, should be 
 placed in a small envelope or capsule, and attached 
 to the sheet on which the plant is represented. In 
 the event of any examination which may be requisite 
 ifter the plant is dried, these detached blossoms will 
 be found very useful, and will prevent the necessity 
 of damaging the specimen. In the case of such 
 plants as shed their corollas very readily, as the 
 speedwells, it is as well to put them in press as 
 soon as collected ; and the colour of many may be 
 retained bv the same means. 
 
128 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 The fruits and seeds of plants are too generally 
 neglected by amateur collectors, but are essential to 
 the completeness of a specimen. It may be found 
 practically convenient to keep these in a separate 
 place, and detached from the plant; and in many 
 cases of dried fruits it is advisable to sort them into 
 their places without previous pressing. By this 
 means the modes of dehiscence will readily be seen : 
 pulpy and succulent fruits should be preserved in 
 spirit. In such plants as the species of sea sand wort 
 (Lepigonum), and some Chenopodia, important specific 
 characters are drawn from the seed ; as they are 
 from the pods of Melilotus and the fruits of Agrimonia. 
 In collecting ferns, well-fruited fronds must be 
 selected, as it is impossible to determine specimens 
 without fructification. Grasses should be selected 
 when in flower and fruit, but must not be allowed to 
 attain too great an age before they are collected. 
 
 We have been speaking so far of the things to be- 
 collected, and space will not allow us to dilate at 
 any length upon the apparatus necessary to that 
 end. Nor indeed is this necessary; a good-sized 
 vasculum, with one or two smaller boxes for the 
 pocket, in which the more delicate plants may be 
 preserved; a strong pocket-knife or small trowel, 
 for procuring roots, and a hooked stick wherewith to 
 fish out water-plants, or pull down branches, are the 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 121) 
 
 principal things required. To anyone residing for 
 any length of time, or even only for a few days, in 
 a district, a "London Catalogue" is an important 
 acquisition, in which should be marked off all the 
 species met with ; by this means the flora of the 
 neighbourhood is ascertained at a very slight ex- 
 penditure of time and trouble. It is not advisable 
 to collect too many plants at once, or to crowd the 
 Yasculum, unless under exceptional circumstances ; 
 nor should the desire to possess rare plants tend, as 
 is too often the case, to the neglect and exclusion of 
 commoner ones. 
 
 A careful and observant collector will frequently 
 meet \\ith forms which deviate more or less from 
 the accepted type of a species. When these appear 
 to offer any marked characters, they should be noted ; 
 and in all cases it is well to preserve any forms 
 which, from external circumstances, have a different 
 appearance from the normal state. The differences 
 produced by soil and situation alone are very con- 
 siderable ; and though the essential characters are 
 usually to be discerned, the interest and value of a 
 herbarium are very much increased by a selection of 
 examples showing the range of a species. Campanula 
 glomerata offers a good example of this. In damp 
 meadows it is from one to two feet high, with a 
 large spreading terminal head of blossoms, while on 
 
 K 
 
130 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 chalk downs it does not attain more than as many 
 inches, with only one or two flowers ; in this state it 
 was described by Withering as a gentian, under the 
 name of Geniiana collina; and the same author 
 gives as Campanula uniflora a one-flowered mountain 
 state of the harebell (C. rotundifolia). 
 
 The collector will also do well to keep a look-out 
 for deviations in structure, which are often of great 
 interest. In short, nothing should be neglected 
 which can tend to the perfect presentment of a 
 species in the herbarium : its utility is commensurate 
 with its completeness. The mere collector may be 
 satisfied with scraps of a rare plant and the absence 
 of commoner species ; but the real worker will pride 
 himself rather upon the possession of instructive 
 examples, which may be of assistance to himself, as 
 well as to all those who may consult them. 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 131 
 
 IX. 
 
 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 BY JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 WE will assume that our collecting for the year 
 has come to a close ; that the long evenings are 
 beginning, and that our dried plants have been 
 brought together from their temporary resting-places 
 to be revised and selected from, so that they may be 
 intercalated in their places in the herbarium, if we 
 already possess one, or, if we are as yet quite novices, 
 that they may form a nucleus around which the 
 whole British flora shall be gathered in due course. 
 First of all, we must make all necessary preparation 
 for 
 
 Mounting, the first essential to which is paper. 
 Much of the neatness of a herbarium depends upon 
 its uniformity, so that it is desirable to lay down a 
 definite plan at the beginning and to act up to it 
 consistently. Amateurs often spoil specimens which 
 they have collected and preserved with considerable 
 care by transferring them from one sheet to another ; 
 from books but it is only very amateur botanists 
 
 K 2 
 
132 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 who keep their plants in this way ! to loose sheets^ 
 from small paper to large, and so on; each change 
 being attended with some slight damage to the 
 specimen so treated. It is, I believe, the common 
 practice on the Continent to keep the specimens 
 loose in folded sheets of paper ; but this plan is not 
 followed in England, and although advantageous, as 
 permitting the fullest examination of the plant, it is 
 attended with much risk to the specimens in the 
 way of breakage ; so that we may consider it settled 
 that we are going to fasten our plant down upon a 
 sheet of paper. This must be rather stout, and large 
 enough to admit the full representation of the 
 species. The sheets used at the Kew Herbarium 
 are 16J inches long by 10^ inches wide; those em- 
 ployed at the British Museum are 17 J inches by 
 Hi inches; but the former will be found amply 
 sufficient for our purpose. The next consideration. 
 is the means by which the specimens are to be 
 secured, which are more various than might at first 
 be supposed. Some persons sew them to the paper ; 
 others p^ace straps over them, which are secured 
 with small pins; but the choice practically lies 
 between fixing. the whole specimen to the paper with 
 gum, paste, or glue, or securing it with straps of 
 gummed paper. The former plan, which is that 
 adopted at our great public herbaria, is certainly 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 133 
 
 better for specimens which are likely to be much 
 consulted; but the latter is in some respects more 
 satisfactory, if somewhat tedious, as it admits the 
 removal of the plant to another sheet if necessary, 
 and delicate portions, such as thin petals or leaves, 
 are not injured as they are when gummed down. At 
 the British Museum and Kew a mixture of gum 
 tragacanth and gum-arabic (the former dissolved in 
 the latter), in about equal parts, is used for this pur- 
 pose; but very coriaceous specimens are secured 
 with glue at the last-named establishment, while in 
 the former the stems and ends of branches are 
 .usually also secured with straps. When the speci- 
 men is entirely gummed down, it is a good plan to 
 keep a few extra flowers or fruits in a small capsule 
 attached to the sheet: these will be useful if it is 
 required to dissect such portions, and the specimen 
 need not be injured for such purpose. 
 
 Poisoning. Some persons are in the habit of 
 employing a solution of corrosive sublimate for the 
 purpose of washing over their plants when mounted, 
 and so preventing the development of animal life. 
 The solution in use at the Kew Herbarium is com- 
 posed of one pound of corrosive sublimate, and the 
 same quantity of carbolic acid to four gallons of 
 methylated spirit ; this fulfils the purpose for which 
 it is intended very well, but is somewhat disagreeable 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 to use. At the British Museum it is found that the 
 presence of camphor, frequently renewed in each 
 cabinet, is sufficient to prevent the attacks of insects. 
 It will soon be discovered that some plants, such, for 
 example, as the UmbeHiferte and Grossulariacese, are 
 peculiarly liable to such attacks ; and these orders 
 must be inspected from time to time, so that any 
 insect ravages may at once be checked. Damp is to 
 be avoided in the situation of the herbarium, as it 
 favours the development not only of insects but of 
 mould, and renders the specimens rotten. 
 
 The question of labelling is of some importance, 
 especially to those who value neatness and uni- 
 formity in the appearance of their herbarium. One 
 or two sets of printed labels for this purpose have 
 been issued, but they cannot be recommended. 
 They give more than is necessary, e. g. the English,, 
 or, more correctly, the book-English names, the 
 general habitats, and definite localities of rare spe- 
 cies, and allow very insufficient space for filling in 
 the date and place of collecting, the name of the col- 
 lector, and such remarks as occasionally occur. The 
 plan of writing all necessary information upon the 
 sheet itself is a good one ; but those who prefer a 
 uniform series of labels will find that a form like 
 the following is as useful as any which they can 
 adopt, and includes all necessary information. The 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 135 
 
 size here given will be adequate for almost all 
 requirements, and is a "happy medium" between 
 the small tickets upon which we have animadverted, 
 and the enormous ones with which some botanists 
 think it necessary to accompany their specimens. 
 Care should be taken to avoid the possibility of a 
 misplacement of labels ; many serious blunders have 
 arisen from the neglect of due precaution in this 
 matter. 
 
 Herb. John Smith. 
 
 Kanimculus acris, L. 
 & K. Steveni, Reich. 
 
 Loc. Meadows near Barchester. 
 
 DATE, June 30, 1874. 
 
 COLL. John Smith. 
 
 Arrangement. The plants, being now affixed to 
 their respective sheets and duly labelled, are ready 
 to be placed in covers, and rendered available for 
 ready reference. Each genus will require a separate 
 cover, which may well be of somewhat stouter paper 
 than that on which the plants are mounted ; the 
 name of the genus should be written at the left- 
 
136 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 hand corner, followed by a reference to the page of 
 the manual by which the plants are arranged, or 
 to the number which it bears in the "London Cata- 
 logue," if that be employed in their arrangement a 
 purpose for which it is very suitable. Should the 
 species be represented by more than one sheet, it is 
 convenient to inclose each in a cover of thinner 
 paper, which, may bear the number assigned to the 
 plant in the right-hand corner ; and it is also con- 
 venient to write the name of the plant at the bottom 
 of each sheet, and to number it also in the right- 
 hand corner. These details may appear trivial, but 
 they in reality affect in no small degree the readi- 
 ness with which any species may be referred to. 
 Should the plants be arranged in accordance with 
 the "London Catalogue," a copy should be kept with 
 the herbarium, in which the plants should be ticked 
 off, so that it may serve as a catalogue of the species 
 represented. 
 
 Cabinets. It will of course be necessary to provide 
 some accommodation for our specimens, and for this 
 purpose we shall find no better model than the 
 cabinets in use in the Botanical Department of the 
 British Museum. The accompanying figure (drawn 
 to scale) is an exact representation of one of these. 
 The measurements can of course be modified so as 
 to suit the size of the herbarium sheets. Each shelf 
 
FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 137 
 
 is a separate drawer, which with its contents can be 
 taken out and replaced at will. Two cabinets such 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 Cabinet for Herbarium Sheets. 
 
 as that figured will be found amply sufficient to 
 contain a very good British herbarium. At Kew 
 the cabinets employed are somewhat similar, but 
 their height is greater and the shelves are fixed. 
 
138 FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. 
 
 The above are the principal points connected with 
 the arrangement of a herbarium, considered as dis- 
 tinct from the work' of collecting. It is possible 
 that I may have omitted to touch upon certain 
 details which may occur to the amateur ; should 
 such be the case, I may add that I shall be happy 
 to supply any additional information, either by letter 
 or by word of mouth ; or to show the system adopted 
 at the British Museum to anyone who may call upon 
 me there for further hints upon the subject. 
 
GRASSES, ETC. 
 
 X. 
 
 GRASSES, ETC. 
 BY PKOFESSOR BUCKMAN, F.G.S., ETC. 
 
 GRASSES form such a distinct group of plants, and 
 their study is so often undertaken for special pur- 
 poses, that a few remarks upon their collection and 
 preservation can hardly be considered as out of place 
 in this little manual. 
 
 Delicately as grasses are formed, yet it cannot be 
 said that their tissues are so liable to injury, or their 
 colours so evanescent, as those of the flowering plants 
 which the botanist ordinarily delights in. Nor in- 
 deed are the grasses so succulent as many other 
 herbs. In this respect they may be said to hold a 
 place between ferns and those plants which usually 
 are called flowers. 
 
 Again, in the dried state their organs are generally 
 so well preserved as to present all that a botanist can 
 wish for, for identification as well as arrangement ; 
 and the student of grasses ever finds his collection 
 to contain beauties not only in point of rarity, but 
 as regards delicacy of structure and grace of outline. 
 
 Viewing them in this light alone, we have often. 
 
140 GRASSES, ETC. 
 
 been astonished that so many students of plants pay 
 so little attention to them, and this feeling is en- 
 hanced when the great value of the grasses is con- 
 sidered. 
 
 If then a few simple directions for preserving 
 these plants shall have the effect of winning a con- 
 vert to these views, we shall be delighted ; and to 
 this end we shall make our descriptions as plain as 
 our process has ever been easy and simple, and yet 
 complete. 
 
 In collecting grasses, as in other tribes of plants, 
 it will be necessary that our specimens should be 
 chosen with the view to exhibit every feature of 
 interest. With this aim, then, it will be best in the 
 general way to obtain as much of the plant as possible, 
 so that it may be necessary to get them up by the 
 roots. Still, in many species the root is not of much 
 importance : but there are a few which possess 
 rhizomata, or underground stems ; such as the Triti- 
 cum repens, Poa pratensis, P. compressa, Holcus mollis, 
 Agrostis stolonifera, and others. These should always 
 exhibit these parts ; and as such examples are usually 
 agrarian, it is easier to mark down desirable speci- 
 mens and seek a fork at the neighbouring farm- 
 buildings wherewith to completely get them out, 
 than to carry any substitute in a smaller and less 
 perfect implement. 
 
GRASSES, ETC. 141 
 
 Having made these remarks, we will suppose that 
 we are now about to sally forth in search of grasses ; 
 in which case we make the following preparations. 
 
 As we do not file our copy of the ' Times/ we 
 make use of it as collecting-paper as follows : Each 
 side of the paper is cut in two, or, as a Cockney would 
 say, " in half." Each half is then folded into a 
 double collecting-sheet, and as many of these are 
 taken as are likely to be useful. In each of these 
 papers is put a small slip of writing-paper, on which 
 to note the locality and any other noteworthy fact 
 connected with a specimen when put in the paper. 
 These papers, separately folded, are placed with the 
 open ends inwards in a convenient portfolio, and the 
 collector is ready to take the field. 
 
 Of course there will be those who will advocate 
 Bentall's drying-paper, blotting-paper, and so on, and 
 we would not have it supposed that we despise these 
 luxuries ; but as we have found the plan advocated 
 always to answer the purpose for grasses, we have 
 felt independent of the more refined collecting- 
 papers. 
 
 Now let us suppose that we have gathered fifty 
 specimens, and have returned home. The next 
 thing will be to put them as soon as may be in a 
 position for drying. 
 
 Our drying apparatus then consists of half-a-dozen 
 
142 GRASSES, ETC. 
 
 smoothly planed deal boards, and for our first collec- 
 tion we take two of these, and upon one we lay some 
 few folds of our old ' Times,' then a specimen in their 
 papers (having previously improved their arrange- 
 ment, when necessary), and then some more folds of 
 paper, and proceed as before, until all the specimens 
 have been placed ; then put a board on the top sheet, 
 and upon that a stone, or a 7 or 14 Ib. weight, accord- 
 ing to the size and quantity of the specimens. If 
 .another day's collection of specimens bo made before 
 the foregoing are dry, they may be arranged in the 
 same way on the top board, and another board used 
 .and the weight replaced. The object of this is to 
 keep partially dried from fresh specimens, the putting 
 together of which is a fertile source of mildew and 
 decay. 
 
 In arranging our specimens for the herbarium, we 
 procure sheets of cartridge paper 18 inches long by 
 11 inches wide, using a folded sheet for each species. 
 
 In these papers the specimens are fastened down 
 ,in the following manner : 
 
 Gum over a portion of the cartridge paper (so as 
 to have the same colour) with two consecutive coats 
 of a clean solution of gum-arabic. 
 
 This can be cut into slips of any length and breadth, 
 making them as narrow as possible for the sake of 
 neatness, and when the specimen is placed in its 
 
GRASSES, ETC. 143 
 
 paper, a few of these slips may be made to confine 
 it in the desired position. Each example is then 
 to be labelled at the bottom of the sheet, and each 
 label should set forth a, Its botanical name ; b, its 
 trivial or local name ; c, the locality whence it was 
 obtained; d, the date when gathered; added to 
 which, if presented, the donor's name.* 
 
 The sheets so prepared may be arranged in groups 
 or genera, each being folded in convenient paper or 
 cloth wrappers, and the whole arranged in volumes 
 of stiff covered portfolio. 
 
 This, then, is all that seems to us necessary in the 
 collection and preservation of grasses ; but we would 
 recommend the student, if an artist, to make a typical 
 specimen of each sit for its portrait. In this way we 
 have made drawings of all the species and varieties 
 that have come in our way. 
 
 Our drawings are life-size, usually lined in with 
 Indian ink with a fine " lithographic pen." These 
 we partially colour on the spot. 
 
 The anatomical details are much enlarged and 
 always fully coloured. To this end our impedimenta 
 for a day among the grasses consist of, besides the 
 collecting portfolio, a sketching block, large octavo 
 size, and a small box of soft colours. Armed with 
 
 * Printed herbarium labels may be got at Messrs. Hardwicke 
 and Bogue's, the publishers. 
 
144 GRASSES, ETC. 
 
 these we have made many a drawing of a grass under 
 the shade of a tree, or in the parlour of some con- 
 tiguous inn. 
 
 Lastly, we would venture to remark, if, besides the 
 interest which grasses should have for the student of 
 botany, these plants be viewed, as they have ever 
 been by us, as indicators of the nature of soil and 
 the value and capabilities of the land on which 
 they grow, the collector should not fail to make 
 notes connected with the soil, situation, and other 
 practical facts connected with the habitats of 
 GRASSES. 
 
MOSSES. 
 
 XI. 
 
 MOSSES. 
 BY DR. BRAITHWAITE, F.L.S., ETC. 
 
 IN making a collection of the vegetable productions 
 of a country we find considerable differences in the 
 structure of the various groups of plants, and in the 
 tissues of which they are composed ; and hence special 
 manipulation is requisite in dealing with certain 
 orders. Some are of so succulent a nature, or have 
 a framework so easily disintegrated, that they contain 
 within themselves the elements of destruction, and 
 present the greatest difficulty in satisfactory pre- 
 servation, while others are so slightly acted on by 
 external agents, that little trouble is required to 
 prepare specimens of permanent beauty. 
 
 The Ferns and Lycopods, being generally appro- 
 priated by the collector of flowering plants, will be 
 treated on with the latter, and following these come 
 the Mosses, to which we will now direct attention, 
 taking the alliance in its broadest sense, as including 
 the three groups of Frondose Mosses, Bog Mosses, and 
 Liver Mosses, or Hepatic^, all of which are readily 
 
146 MOSSES. 
 
 collected and preserved, and yield an endless fund 
 of instructive entertainment to the microscopist. 
 But it may be asked, Where is the game to be 
 found ? Where are the pleasant hunting-grounds in 
 which they most do congregate ? We answer, every- 
 where may some species or other be met with ; yet, 
 though many are cosmopolitan, the majority have 
 their special habitats, and some their special seasons, 
 both being considerably influenced by the presence 
 of moisture. 
 
 Collecting. The bryologist has one advantage over 
 the phsenogamous botanist, for it is not impera- 
 tive that mosses should be laid out and pressed 
 immediately ; and hence less care is required in 
 collecting them, than is bestowed on flowering 
 plants; the necessary apparatus is confined to a 
 pocket-knife, to remove specimens from stones or 
 trees, a stock of stout waste paper, and a vasculum, 
 or, better still, a strong bag, in which to carry the 
 packets. When collecting the plants, it is well to 
 remove any superfluous earth or stones, or to squeeze 
 out the water from those found in bogs ; and then 
 each is to be wrapped separately in paper, and the 
 locality marked outside ; or the more minute species 
 may, for greater safety, be placed in chip boxes. 
 On reaching home, if we do not prepare the speci- 
 mens at once, we must not leave the parcels packed 
 
MOSSES. 147 
 
 together in their receptacle, or mould will soon 
 attack them and spoil the whole; but we must 
 spread them out on the floor until quite dry, and 
 then reserve them to a convenient opportunity to 
 lay out ; as in the dry state they may be kept for 
 years unchanged. 
 
 It often happens that our line of study is deve- 
 loped by some fortuitous circumstance. A neglected 
 flowerpot in the corner of the garden attracts atten- 
 tion by its verdant carpet of moss, or, peeping over 
 the wall, we see the crevices between the bricks 
 bristling with capsules of Tortula muralis, the red 
 twisted peristome freshly brought to view by the 
 falling away of the lid, and, taking a bit indoors to 
 submit to the microscope, we are so captivated there- 
 with that we then and there determine to become a 
 bryologist. Nor is this all that a journey round the 
 garden will disclose : the neglected paths yield other 
 species not less worthy of examination, and old apple- 
 trees are not unfrequently tenanted by mosses. 
 
 Extending our walks to the commons, lanes, and 
 woods, we may find on the ground and banks, in 
 bogs and on the stumps and trunks of trees, a 
 number of species greatly extending our list ; while 
 others again are only met with on the clay soil of 
 stubble-fields, as various species of Pottia and Ephe- 
 merum : appearing in October, their delicate texture 
 
 L2 
 
148 MOSSES. 
 
 is developed by the constant moisture of winter, and 
 with it also they vanish, to appear no more until 
 the succeeding season. Travelling yet farther away, 
 we find that each locality we visit yields some 
 novelty : old walls and rocks of sandstone or slate, 
 limestone districts, and, above all, a mountainous 
 country, are rich in species we seek in vain else- 
 where. Here peat bogs, and rocks dripping with 
 water, ever supplied by the atmosphere, or the 
 tumbling streams everywhere met with, are the 
 chosen homes of these little plants, and thither must 
 the collector resort, if he would reap his richest 
 harvest. Winter and spring in the lowlands, and a 
 later period in the elevated districts, will be found 
 most productive of fruiting plants. 
 
 Preparation of Specimens. So rapidly does the 
 cellular texture of the mosses transmit fluid, that, 
 when soaked in water, we see them swell up and 
 expand their little leaves, and in a short time look 
 as fresh as when growing ; hence a basin of water, 
 a towel, and drying-paper are all we require to 
 prepare our specimens for the herbarium. If the 
 tufts are large, we must separate them into patches 
 sufficiently thin to lie flat, and by repeated washing, 
 get rid of adherent earth, mud, or gravel. This is 
 conveniently accomplished by holding the tuft in 
 the palm of the hand, under a tap, and allowing a 
 stream of water to pass through it ; then by pressure 
 
MOSSES. 149 
 
 in the folding towel we remove superfluous moisture 
 and immediately transfer to paper, arranging the 
 plants as we wish them to lie permanently, and 
 placing with each a ticket bearing the name: a 
 moderate weight is sufficient to dry them, as with 
 great pressure the capsules split, and thus the value 
 of the specimen is decreased. It not unfrequently 
 happens that two or three species grow intermixed : 
 these must be carefully separated at the time of 
 soaking, and any capsules required to show the 
 peristome must also be removed before the plants 
 are submitted to pressure. 
 
 Examination of Specimens. We have very much 
 to learn about a moss before we can become masters 
 of all the characters that pertain to it as a specific 
 individual. We must observe its branching, the 
 mode of attachment of the leaves to the stem, and 
 their direction ; the form and structure of a separate 
 leaf, the position of the male flowers, and, lastly, the 
 position and structure of the fruit. For the efficient 
 determination of these we require a microscope (the 
 simple dissecting microscope is amply sufficient), a 
 couple of sharp-edged, triangular needles fixed in 
 handles, and a few glass slides and covers. Having 
 soaked our specimen in water, we lay it on a slide, 
 and by cutting through the stem with one of the 
 needles, close to the attachment of a leaf, we can 
 readily remove the leaf entire, and two or three 
 
150 
 
 MOSSES. 
 
 may be transferred to another slide, and placed in a 
 drop of water under a cover : the same thing may be 
 coughly accomplished by scraping the stem back- 
 wards with one of the needles ; but in this way the 
 leaves are often torn. 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 
 Tortilla muralis. 
 
 a. Leaf and its areolation. b. Capsule, c. Calyptra. a. Lid. 
 e. Male flower. /. Antheridia and paraphyses. 
 
 By examination of a leaf we notice its form, the 
 condition of its margin, whether entire or serrated 
 or bordered ; the presence and extent of the nerve ; 
 and lastly, and most important of all, the form and 
 condition of its component cells; and for this a 
 higher power is required. With a |-inch object- 
 glass and C eyepiece we can observe their form, and 
 whether their walls are thickened so as to render 
 
MOSSES. 151 
 
 them dot-like ; their contents, whether chloro- 
 phyllose or hyaline ; and their surface, whether 
 smooth or covered with papillae ; for often these 
 points are so characteristic, that by them alone we 
 can at once refer a barren specimen to its proper 
 family or genus. 
 
 Preservation of Specimens. This may be dis- 
 cussed under two heads : 1st, as microscopic objects ; 
 2nd, for the herbarium. 
 
 1. The parts required for microscopic examina- 
 tion are the capsules and peristome, entire speci- 
 mens of the smaller species, and detached leaves. 
 The capsules having to be viewed by condensed 
 light, must be mounted dry as opaque objects; and 
 for this purpose I use Piper's wooden slides, with 
 revolving bone cover ; and in one of these we may 
 fix a capsule with the lid still attached, another 
 laid on its side, but showing the peristome, and a 
 third with the mouth of the capsule looking upward, 
 a position very useful for the species of Orthotri- 
 clium, as we are thus enabled to see the inner 
 peristome ; and with them also may be placed the 
 calyptra: should the cost of these be an object, a 
 cheaper substitute may be found in shallow pill-boxes, 
 blackened on the inside. 
 
 To preserve the leaves in an expanded state we 
 may employ the fluid media used for vegetable 
 
152 
 
 MOSSES. 
 
 tissues, or, when time is of consequence, Rimming- 
 ton's glycerine jelly is a convenient material in 
 which to mount them, a ring of dammar cement 
 being first placed on the slide, and within this the 
 liquefied jelly, to which the expanded specimen is 
 quickly transferred, and the cover securely sealed 
 by gold size. Preparations of this kind are of the 
 highest value as types for comparison with actual 
 specimens we may have for determination. 
 
 Fig. 37, 
 
 Ceralodon purpurens. 
 
 a, Male plant. 1. Leaf and its areolation. 2. Capsule. 3. Calyptra 
 4. Two teeth of the peristome. 
 
 2. In mounting specimens for the herbarium we 
 must be guided by the limits which we have fixed 
 on for the extent of the same; and I may first 
 describe the method adopted for my own collection. 
 
MOSSES. 
 
 Every species has a separate leaf of cartridge-paper 
 measuring 14J x 10J inches, and on this the speci- 
 mens are fixed, each mounted by a little gum on a 
 piece of toned paper ; thus 4 or 6 to 12 specimens, 
 according to size, are attached to each leaf, varieties 
 have one or more additional leaves^ and to each is 
 also fixed a triangular envelope, inclosing loose 
 capsules and leaves for ready transfer to the micro- 
 scope, and also a label indicating the name, habitat, 
 and date of collection. A pink cover for each genus 
 includes the species, and a stout millboard cover 
 embraces the genera of each family, with the name 
 of which it is labelled outside, the whole shutting up 
 in a cabinet. 
 
 Another form is that seen in Kabenhorst's Bry- 
 otheca Europsea, quarto volumes of 50 specimens, 
 one occupying each leaf, and so arranged that the 
 specimens do not come opposite to each other. 
 Others again use loose sheets of note-paper, within 
 each of which a single specimen is mounted; but 
 this, from their size, is very cumbersome. Or we 
 may take a single well-chosen typical specimen and 
 arrange many species on a page, as is seen in the 
 beautiful volume of Gardiner's 'British Mosses' or 
 Mclvor's 'Hepaticse Britannicae.' Whatever plan 
 we adopt, our specimens, once well dried and kept in 
 <a dry place, are unchangeable, and are always looked 
 
154 MOSSES. 
 
 upon with pleasure, each recalling some pleasing" 
 associations, or perchance reminding us of some long- 
 lost friend, in companionship with whom they were 
 collected or studied. A stock of duplicates must 
 also be reserved, from which to supply our friends, 
 or exchange with other collectors for desiderata in 
 our own series : these may be kept in square cases 
 of various sizes, cut so as to allow the edges of the 
 top and sides to wrap over the other half folded 
 down on the specimens. 
 
 The Hepaticae of the family Jungermanniacese are- 
 treated precisely as mosses, the capsules, however, 
 show but little diversity, and will not require sepa- 
 rate preservation ; but the elaters, or spiral threads- 
 accompanying the seeds, are elegant microscopic 
 objects. The Marchantiacese must be pressed when 
 fresh, as they do not revive with the same facility as 
 other species, owing to their succulent nature an(/ 
 numerous layers of cells. 
 
 Classification. On this I have fully treated else- 
 where (" The Moss World," * Popular Science Be view,' 
 Oct., 1871), and it may suffice here simply to indicate 
 the families of British mosses and their mode of 
 arrangement. The cell-texture of the leaf takes an 
 important place in the characters, and in accordance 
 with this principle the Cleistocarpous or Phascoid 
 group is broken up and distributed in various families. 
 
MOSSES. 
 
 155 
 
 We have two orders; one indeed, comprising only 
 the genus Andresea, is distinguished by the capsule 
 splitting into four valves united at apex ; the other,, 
 including the bulk of the species, has in most cases 
 a lid, which separates transversely, and usually 
 discloses a peristome of tooth-like processes. The 
 structure of these teeth again enables us to form 
 three divisions. In the first they consist of a mass 
 of confluent cells; in the second, of tongue-shaped 
 processes, composed of agglutinated filaments ; and 
 in the third, of a double layer of cells, transversely 
 articulated to each other, the outer layer composed 
 of two rows of firm coloured cells, the inner of a 
 single series of vesicular hyaline cells, on which the 
 hygroscopic quality of the tooth depends. 
 
 Sub-Class SPHAGNIN.E. 
 
 Bog Mosses. 
 Fam. 1. Sphagnacese. 
 
 Sub-Class BRYINJE. 
 
 Frondose Mosses. 
 Order 1. SCHISTOCARPI. 
 
 Fam. 1. Andreseacese. 
 Order 2. STEGOCARPI. 
 
 Div. 1. Elasmodontes. 
 
 Farn. 2. Georgiacese, 
 Div. 2. Ncmatodontes. 
 
 Farn. 3. BuxbaumiaceaB. 
 
 Fam. 4. Polytrichaceae. 
 
156 
 
 MOSSES. 
 
 Div. 3. Arthrodontes. 
 
 Subdiv. 1. Acrocarpici. 
 *Distichophylla. 
 Fam. 5. Schistostegacese. 
 **Polystichophylla. 
 
 Fam. 7. DicranacesB. 
 
 8. Leucobryacese. 
 
 9. Trichostomacese. 
 
 ,, 10. Grimmiacese. 
 
 ,, 11. Orthotrichacese. 
 
 | Fam. 6. Fissidentacese. 
 
 Fam. 12. SplachnacesB. 
 13. FunariaceaB. 
 14. Bryacese. 
 15. Mniacese. 
 16. BartramiacesB. 
 
 Subdiv. 2. Pleurocarpici. 
 
 Fam. 17. Hookeriaceae. 
 18. Fontinalacese. 
 19. Neckeracese. 
 
 Fam. 20. Leskeacese. 
 21. Hypnaceae. 
 
 Sub-Class HEPATICIN^E. 
 
 Liver Mosses. 
 Fam. 1. Jungermanniacese. I Fam. 3. Anthocerotacese. 
 
 2. Marchantiacese. 
 
 4. Eicciacese. 
 
 Among species which may be generally met with 
 by beginners on the look-out for mosses, we may 
 enumerate the following : 
 
 On Walls. Tortula muralis and revoluta, Bryum 
 capillare and csespiticium, Grrimmia pulvinata, Weisia 
 cirrhata. 
 
 In Clay Fields. Phascum acaulon, Pottia trun- 
 catula and Starkeana. 
 
 On Waste Ground and Heaths. Ceratodon pur- 
 pureus, Funaria hygrometrica, Campylopus turfaceus, 
 Bryum argenteum, nutans, and pallens, Pleuridium 
 subulatum, Dicranella heteromalla and varia, Physco- 
 mitrium pyriforme, Pogonatum aloides, Polytrichunj 
 
MOSSES. 157 
 
 commune, piliferum, and juniperimim, Tortula ungui- 
 culata and fallax, Bartramia pomiformis, Junger- 
 maimia bicuspidata, Lepidozia reptans, Ptilidium 
 ciliare, Frullania tamarisci. 
 
 Shady Banks and Woods. Catharinea undulata, 
 Weisia viridula, Tortula subulata, Mnium hornum, 
 Dicranum scoparium, Hypnum rutabulum, veluti- 
 num, cupressiforme, praBlongum, purum, and mol- 
 luscum, Plagiothecium denticulatum, Pleurozium 
 splendens and Schreberi, Hylocomium squarrosum 
 and triquetrum, Thuyidium tamariscinum, Fissidens 
 bryoides, Plagiochila asplenioides, Jungermannia 
 albicans, Lophocolea bidentata. 
 
 In Bogs. Sphagnum cymbifolium and acutifo- 
 lium, Grymnocybe palustris, Hypnum cuspidatum, 
 stellatum, aduncum, and fluitans, Jungermannia 
 inflata. 
 
 Bocks and ~by Streams. Grimmia apocarpa, Tri- 
 dontium pellucidum, Hypnum serpens, filicinum, 
 commutatum, and palustre, Scapania nemorosa, 
 Metzgeria furcata, Marchantia polymorpha, Pellia 
 epiphylla, Fegatella conica. 
 
 On Trees. Ulota crispa, Orthotrichum affine and 
 diaphanum, Cryphsea heteromalla, Homalia tricho- 
 manoides, Hypnum sericeum, Isothecium myurum, 
 Frullania dilatata, Badula complanata, Madotheca 
 platyphylla. 
 
158 MOSSES. 
 
 Small as this list is, it wilt be found to yield 
 ample store for investigation, and if true love for the 
 study be thereby excited, the circle of forms will be 
 found to widen with every new locality visited. If 
 we have contributed in any way to facilitate the 
 pursuit, then is our object fulfilled, and we may con- 
 clude with the words of Horace : 
 
 Vive, vale ! si quid novisti rectius istis, 
 Candidus imperti, si non, his utere mecum. 
 
FUNGI. 159 
 
 XII. 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 BY WORTHINGTON G. SMITH, F.L.S. 
 
 WITH the fogs and rains of autumn the fungologist's 
 harvest begins. A few fungi (large and small) ap- 
 pertain to the spring, and some species may be 
 found in every month of the year ; but it is not till 
 September has well set in, or October is reached, 
 that the glut of fungi is really upon us. Fungi 
 may generally be met with in abundance for three 
 months of the year ; viz. from the latter half of 
 September till the middle of December, the month 
 of October taking pre-eminence for producing the 
 greatest abundance of species. A season of moderate 
 heat and rain is the most productive, for an exces- 
 sive amount of either dryness or moisture appears to 
 destroy the fecundity of the mycelium, which it 
 must always be remembered is alive and at work 
 (underground) the whole of the year; for, as a 
 matter of course, this year's fungi is produced from 
 last year's spores. These spores are set free in 
 autumn, and at once vegetate and form masses of 
 mycelium, from which next year's crop must spring ; 
 
160 FUNGI. 
 
 just as the seeds of our wild annuals are self-sown 
 at the fall of each year and first germinate at that 
 season. It is a great mistake to suppose that Aga- 
 rics and Boleti wait till the leaves fall, so that they 
 may prey upon them; for, as a rule, the larger fungi 
 never live upon the leaves of the same year as that 
 in which they (the fungi) come up ; fungi live 
 upon the fallen leaves of the previous autumn. The 
 spring and summer months will sometimes prove 
 very productive, especially after stormy weather; 
 but the collector must always bear in mind that 
 fungi, like all other things, have their seasons. I 
 have known the fungus harvest quite over by the 
 end of August, and I have also known it not come 
 in before December: it depends entirely upon a 
 certain amount of atmospheric heat and moisture. 
 A damp summer and stormy August will produce 
 the crop at the beginning of September ; but a dry 
 autumn, without much rain till November, will delay 
 the fungus crop till Christmas. Some species appear 
 regularly twice a year from the same mycelium; once 
 after the rains of March and April, and again in 
 October. This is the case with Coprinus atramenta- 
 rius, which I have growing (originally from spores) 
 in a bed of my own garden. 
 
 It is useless to go out specially to collect fungi, 
 either during the dry hot weather of summer or the 
 
 
FUNGI. 161 
 
 frosts of winter; it sometimes, however, happens 
 that odd fungi may be found here and there, in out- 
 of-the-way places, such as the sides of open cellars 
 and sawpits, under bridges, on prostrate logs in 
 streams, in damp outhouses, or about old water- 
 butts, &c. ; therefore I never go out without two or 
 three old seidlitz-powder boxes, some thin paper, 
 and a strong knife, in case any waifs and strays 
 should fall in my way. I have sometimes found 
 good species in a friend's dustbin or cistern, or upon 
 the sides of the open cellar of a public-house. I once 
 found an agaricus on the cornice of London Bridge, 
 to secure which I had to get over the parapet, and was 
 nearly being taken into custody as one tired of life ; 
 another time I found a colony of Coprinus domesticus 
 upon a friend's scullery wall, and a Peziza upon 
 my brother's ceiling. Moral : Fungologists' pockets 
 should, at all times, contain one or two small boxes 
 for securing stray and erratic members of the fungus 
 family. 
 
 The equipment for a fungus foray differs with the 
 nature of the fungi to be collected. If the plants 
 sought for are wholly microscopic, a small vasculum, 
 knife, pocket-lens, and package of thin paper will 
 be found sufficient ; but if Agarics, Boleti, the larger 
 Polyporei, &c., are to be brought home, a more com- 
 plete set of things will be required, which should 
 
 M 
 
162 FUNGI. 
 
 include a very small garden-trowel or carpenter's 
 gouge (any saddler or bootmaker will make a suit- 
 able leather case for the blades for a shilling or two), 
 a strong knife such as gardeners use for pruning 
 trees, a few sheets of thin paper, a lens, pocket-com- 
 pass, and some string. If truffles are desired, a rake 
 is necessary, and the best plan is to carry the iron- 
 toothed end separately in a leather case, and made 
 to screw on to the end of a walking-stick ; when not 
 in use, this end can be carried in the pocket with 
 the trowel, &c. It is requisite that the vasculum be 
 large, with straps to carry it over the shoulders ; 
 and the collector should be provided with a set of 
 cardboard boxes, large and small, to go inside the 
 vasculum, and to contain the more delicate or choice 
 spoils of the day. Leather gloves and a thin great- 
 coat are good things for the chilly days of early 
 winter this coat should be provided with at least 
 four large pockets ; and, if the weather is inclement, 
 strong boots and waterproof leggings will be found 
 serviceable. An old felt hat and large cotton um- 
 brella are also desirable, for it is only a piece of folly 
 to go into the wet dripping woods with good clothes. 
 As for the umbrella, it should be one of the Mrs. 
 Gamp pattern, of good size, and with a (removable) 
 ring at the end farthest from the handle, so that it 
 may be suspended from branches of trees, &c., whilst 
 
FUNGI. 163 
 
 the fungi are sorted or examined below, or a frugal 
 luncheon is discussed (perhaps during a passing 
 storm of rain). The string will be found useful for 
 tying up the larger Polyporei ; these are frequently 
 of great size, and often weigh many pounds. In 
 collecting, all Agarics should be kept separate as 
 much as possible ; for this purpose thin paper, such 
 as is used by stationers and milliners, is indis- 
 pensable; every specimen should be wrapped very 
 lightly in a piece of thin paper before boxing, as 
 the elasticity of the paper not only prevents breaking 
 and bruising, but it also prevents the spores of one 
 species being scattered over another. In carrying 
 fungi about, or sending fresh specimens from one 
 place to another, nothing is so good as this thin 
 paper interspersed here and there with fronds of the 
 common bracken. Sawdust, hay, or wool, should 
 never, on any account, be used : such things totally 
 destroy the plants; but with, careful packing with 
 paper and bracken-fronds, fungi may be transported 
 for any distance, by rail or otherwise, perfectly 
 intact and undamaged. In packing the vasculum, 
 see that she heavier plants are at the bottom and 
 the lighter ones at the top ; for if packed otherwise 
 any fragile species will be certainly destroyed. I have 
 known a good collection of Agarics rendered worth- 
 less by a loose puff-ball being placed with them, 
 
 M 2 
 
164 FUNGI. 
 
 which has rolled about with every movement of the 
 collector's body, and damaged big and little species 
 alike, when a piece of paper or a fern-frond or two, 
 to prevent rolling, would have kept all quite safe. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to specify localities, because 
 fungi abound everywhere. If leaf fungi are sought 
 for, hedge-sides will produce an abundant crop ; if 
 the Agaricini and Polyporei, forests and woods must 
 be ransacked ; if the edible species are wanted, rich 
 open pastures (with few exceptions) must be tra- 
 versed : the various species of truffles must be looked 
 for principally in leafy glades many prefer a cal- 
 careous, subsoil, but at times they may be met with 
 even in hedge-sides, town parks, or elsewhere. 
 
 When the collection of the day is complete, no 
 species must be allowed to remain in the collecting- 
 cases all night ; for if the boxes are not carefully 
 opened and the contents laid out, it will probably 
 be found in the morning that some will have dis- 
 solved into an inky fluid, others will have got into 
 the treacle state, whilst a third lot will be overrun 
 with mould, or the smaller ones perhaps entirely 
 eaten up by slugs or larvaB. Few things decompose 
 so rapidly as fungi, especially the full-grown Boleti ; 
 these, though apparently perfectly sound one day,, 
 will sometimes be a horrible mass of fostid treacle 
 the next. I have sometimes received large parcels 
 

 FUNGI. It) 5 
 
 by rail or post when this horrible stinking* matter 
 has been dripping out, perhaps all over the carter's 
 hands or down the postman's trousers; for ladies 
 always will send Boleti in bonnet-boxes, tied with 
 thin twine. Should any extra charge be demanded, 
 on the ground of the insufficiently prepaid postage, 
 or the parcels be unpaid, I invariably refuse to take 
 them in, to the disgust of the parties bringing them. 
 I shall not soon forget an ill-tempered postman who 
 brought me two of these dripping treasures at the 
 same time last autumn, with a demand for extra 
 postage, and his look of silent disrelish as he walked 
 off with one twine-suspended bonnet-box in each 
 hand, the fragrant Boleti-treacle meanwhile mani- 
 festing itself upon the pavement. Even when quite 
 fresh, the odour of some species is disgusting in the 
 extreme ; for instance, a single specimen of Phallus 
 impudicus in the collecting-box will affect a whole 
 railway carriage with the most horrible and sicken- 
 ing stench ; whilst the curious truffle Melanogaster 
 ambiguus is perhaps worse still, for its abominable 
 odour is perfectly insufferable. 
 
 To dry and preserve a collection of fresh fungi is 
 at times a very difficult task; for instance, some 
 species are so entirely covered with a tenacious 
 gluten that if they were at once put between drying- 
 papers, it is certain they would never come out again 
 
166 
 
 with the least chance of being recognized by even 
 the most acute fungologist ; others are so deli- 
 quescent that in an hour or two they would dissolve 
 into a watery mass, soak through all the paper, and 
 leave a mere dirty stain between the sheets where 
 the plant was originally placed. As a contrast, some 
 of the Polyporei (as the young state of Potyporus- 
 igniarius) are so hard that nothing but a steam- 
 hammer would have any chance of flattening them. 
 There is considerable difficulty in ridding the plants 
 from the larvse with which they are often infested. 
 A few drops of the oil of turpentine will, however^ 
 generally drive them from Agarics and other fleshy 
 fungi ; and, in regard to the woody Polyporei, a good 
 plan is to place the plants in an oven, or on a hob 
 for a short time, where the heat is not too powerful 
 to destroy the plants, but still sufficiently potent 
 to drive the larvae from their holes. If this is not 
 done, the collector's experience will probably be the 
 same as mine has more than once been; viz. on 
 opening a package (which should contain some 
 choice dried fungus), to find only a stain, a few 
 skins of dead maggots, and a little dirt in fact, 
 some of the species in my herbarium, though mostly 
 poisoned with corrosive sublimate, get entirely de- 
 voured by rapacious and poison-proof larvae, mites s 
 and minute beetles. 
 
 
FUNGI. 167 
 
 In addition, however, to the mere drying, certain 
 notes and particulars are required, without which 
 the best dried specimens are worthless ; and, again, 
 for the larger fungi to be of real service, the spores 
 of each species must be separately preserved. As 
 regards the drying of the fleshy fungi themselves, 
 the process to observe is as follows : Lay all ordi- 
 nary Agarics out separately in a dry place, or in a 
 current of dry air from six to twelve, or even twenty- 
 four hours, according to the species, so that they 
 may part with their superfluous moisture, and thus 
 facilitate drying. In the case of species with gluti- 
 nous pilei, it will be found that the gluten will more 
 or less set, if carefully attended to, in a dry warm 
 place. If the larger fleshy fungi are inadvertently 
 placed under a propagating-glass, or left on a lawn 
 or grassy place, or kept in damp air from over-night 
 till next morning, the chances are that they will 
 never properly dry at all. When the superfluous 
 moisture has evaporated they may be put gently 
 between drying-papers, but the weight put upon 
 them must at first be of the slightest kind ; ordi- 
 nary books, more or less light, will be found quite 
 sufficient; and few, or perhaps no other plants, re- 
 quire such frequent changing as Agarics. An hour, 
 or often less, suffices for the first pressure, when care 
 must be taken to supply them with fresh and per- 
 
168 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 fectly dry paper, or they will immediately mould. 
 It is a good plan, when the plants are half dry, to 
 take them out of the papers and put them in dry air, 
 or in a sunny place for a short time (the length of 
 time being determined by experience and the nature 
 of the species), to part with more of their moisture : 
 so, with constant attention and frequent changing of 
 the papers, very presentable specimens may at last 
 be obtained. These dried fungi will now be found 
 very useful for showing the more superficial cha- 
 racters of the plants ; but without sections, spores, 
 and proper notes, they will be next to useless. In 
 Agarics it is of the first importance to show the 
 nature of the attachment of the gills to the stem: 
 and should the stems be furnished with a volva or 
 annulus, this must be preserved with the greatest 
 care young specimens, too, in different stages of 
 growth, are often of great value. If possible, it is 
 well to have a series of dried specimens of each 
 species ; one, as in Fig. 38, A, to display the nature 
 of the tubes in Boletus and the gills in the Agaricini, 
 whether they are thick or thin, crowded together or 
 distant from each other, plain or serrated, free or 
 annexed; another, as at B, to show the pileus, 
 whether smooth or floccose, plain, warted, or zoned, 
 and the nature of the margin, whether striate, bullate, 
 or plain ; a third, as at C, to show the attachment of 
 
FUNGI. 
 
 169 
 
 pileus to stem in infancy; and, fourthly, a section 
 or thin slice removed from the exact middle of the 
 young plant from top to bottom, as at D : this will 
 show the nature of the veil (if present), and whether 
 
 Fig. 38. 
 
 Specimens showing the gills, rings, and stages of growtn. 
 
 universal or not ; and if absent, whether the margin 
 is at first straight, incurved, or involute. A similar 
 section through the mature plant is also required, E 
 
170 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 and F (Fig. 39) : this will give the attachment of 
 gills to stems (a character of great importance), and 
 the nature of the stem itself, whether solid, stuffed, 
 or hollow. Great care and experience are required to 
 cut a thin and perfect slice from the middle of a 
 tender Agaric or Boletus ; for there is often a sort 
 of articulation at the point G, which causes the slice 
 to fall in two. As for preserving fungi in fluids, I 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 Section cut through Agnricus. 
 
 think it in all ways undesirable. It may more or 
 less answer for single or unique specimens, or for 
 large museums, where space is of no consequence ; 
 but for all purposes of constant reference and private 
 study, any process of this sort is worthless. Few 
 persons, I imagine, would care to have hundreds (or 
 I might say thousands) of tolerably large glass bottles 
 
 
FUNGI. 171 
 
 of fluids in their houses. It is essential that the 
 spores should be secured, as their colour and size are 
 very important. They may be preserved in various- 
 ways : if coloured, they are best kept on white paper, 
 and if white, on black glazed paper, such as is supplied 
 to photographers ; or they may be at once deposited 
 and kept on glass slides and covered, or between thin 
 sheets of mica, such as photographers use. I prefer 
 the spores free on paper, as they can easily be trans- 
 ferred to glass for examination by breathing on a 
 corner of a glass slide and just touching it on to the dry 
 spores; thousands will attach themselves to the glass, 
 and, moreover, the supply from one fungus appears 
 to be perfectly inexhaustible. To secure a good batch 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 of spores, it is not sufficient to let the Agaric merely 
 rest in the position shown at H (Fig. 40), for the 
 spores will not properly fall when this plan is 
 adopted; a far better one is to cut a small hole, 
 about the size of the diameter of the stem of the 
 fungus, in the centre of the paper on which the spores 
 are to be deposited : slip the stem through the hole,, 
 
172 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 
 carefully draw up the paper collar, and support the 
 fungus in a small pot, glass, or dry phial (placed 
 under a propagating-glass to keep the plant fresh) as 
 shown in Fig. 41. If it is wished to fix the spores, 
 let the paper be first washed with 
 a thin solution of gum-arabic, which 
 must be allowed to get perfectly 
 dry ; the spores may now fall upon 
 the dry gummed paper ; and after 
 the deposition the gummed surface 
 must be breathed upon to moisten 
 the gum, and when it has dried for 
 the second time the spores will be 
 fixed, and not readily rubbed off. 
 
 It is necessary to prepare the 
 woody specimens in a different man- 
 ner. They must first be perfectly 
 dried before the fire, or in the sun, 
 and then a thin slice must be sawn 
 (or cut with a powerful knife) out 
 of the middle. This slice may be poisoned, as de- 
 scribed hereafter, and mounted on the herbarium 
 sheets at once. If the Polyporus is very thin, it 
 may be mounted in company with the slice, but more 
 than one specimen is desirable, as it is indispensable 
 to have both surfaces handy for examination. If 
 the specimens are very large, they are best kept in. 
 
 Agaric placed to 
 catch spores. 
 
FUNGI. 
 
 173 
 
 wooden boxes, and labelled according to the genera 
 and sub-genera they contain ; or they may be kept 
 in drawers, the drawers being divided by partitions 
 if large, and labelled outside. If boxes are used,. 
 
 Fig. 42. 
 
 Cabinet for Fungi. 
 
 they should ail be the same depth ; the height and 
 width may be doubled or halved according to the 
 nature of the plants : the plan will be better under- 
 stood by reference to the diagram, Fig. 42. If this 
 
174 FUNGI. 
 
 plan is adopted, there will be no waste space, and 
 the boxes will stand evenly upon a sideboard or 
 against a wall. 
 
 Before the specimens are transferred to the her- 
 barium they may or not be poisoned, according to 
 the wish or convenience of the collector. Some of 
 my plants which have never been poisoned remain 
 perfectly uninjured, whilst others, which have been 
 treated with a strong solution of corrosive sublimate, 
 have been devoured by larvae, &c., introduced, I 
 presume, since the plants were put away. A solu- 
 tion of corrosive sublimate in pyroligneous naphtha, 
 carefully washed over the specimens, has been re- 
 commended ; but the ordinary poison is oil of tur- 
 pentine, mixed with finely-powdered sublimate, well 
 shaken before applied. If the specimens are to be 
 glued down, they should be mounted as shown in 
 Figs. 38 and 39, so as to display all their characters, 
 and fixed with poisoned gum tragacanth ; but 
 some botanists, and myself amongst the number, 
 prefer to have the specimens free. For this purpose 
 I have envelopes gummed to the herbarium sheets, 
 and the specimens (including a small paper con- 
 taining the spores) are free within the envelopes. 
 Some mites are very fond of the spores of certain 
 fungi, whilst they will not touch the spores of 
 others : therefore, if the specimens are to be kept 
 
 
FUNGI. 175 
 
 perfectly intact, gummed paper must be ' used, or 
 they may be kept between little slips of mica. 
 As to the labelling of the herbarium sheets, I shall 
 not touch upon that, as the plan universally 
 followed is similar to the one used for flowering 
 plants, and described in this volume. Some sub- 
 genera of Agaricus, however (as Tricholoma), are so 
 numerous in species that it will be found requisite 
 to have several wrappers for one sub-genus. 
 
 Now as to the necessary notes to be made on the 
 sheets : the points in discriminating fungi differ con- 
 siderably from those used in naming flowering plants. 
 It is presumed the spores have been preserved by 
 the collector. Now, if he has time, the next best 
 thing is to measure and note them at once, in de- 
 cimals of an inch and millimetre : a second and 
 essential thing is a note as to the taste of the 
 fungus, whether it is mild, acrid, bitter, &c. This 
 point will be found very useful, as some species are 
 tasteless, insipid, or extremely acrid, bitter, or poi- 
 sonous : it is only necessary to taste a small piece ; 
 but as so little is really known of the qualities of 
 fungi, unless this is done no advance will be made. 
 I invariably taste every fungus new to me, and have 
 notes to this effect of all the species which have 
 passed through my hands : in some species the effect 
 is very peculiar, sometimes (as in Agaricus melleus) 
 
176 FUNGI. 
 
 it causes a cold sensation at the back of the ears, 
 and swelling of the throat ; at others (as in Maras- 
 mius cauUcinalis), the taste proves to be intensely 
 bitter; some are so fiery (as in Lactarius turpis, 
 llennius, and acris), that the smallest piece placed 
 upon the tongue resembles the contact of a red-hot 
 poker. Often, when 1 have been out botanizing with 
 young men and amateurs, when a dubious Eussula 
 or Lactarius has been shown me to name, I have 
 requested the inquirer to taste it, as, if mild or 
 pungent, the taste might at times decide the species; 
 I have generally found, however, that though certain 
 persons are anxious enough to acquire names, they 
 will not burn their tongues to secure them. No 
 fungi that I am acquainted with are really pleasant 
 raw, unless it is Hydnum gelatinosum, though many 
 are very good when cooked. A very important thing 
 to note is the odour in the larger fungi : many are 
 very pleasant, like meal ; a few are sweet ; some re- 
 semble stinking fish (as Agarieus cucumis) ; one, mice 
 (as A. incanus) ; another, camphor, whilst Maras- 
 mius foetidus and impudicus are like putrid carrion ; 
 others are like burnt flannel, garlic, rotten beans, 
 and almost every imaginable disagreeable thing. 
 The habitat is of great importance : if the plant 
 grows upon trees, the tree should be named ; or if 
 parasitic upon any other material, the matrix should 
 
FUNGI. 177 
 
 be named with the place. The viscidity, dryness, 
 or bibulosity must be given, and in the Agaricini, 
 any notes that may suggest themselves as to the 
 presence or absence of a veil, volva, or trama, and 
 whether the gills have a habit of separating from the 
 stem, as at J (Fig. 39), must be carefully noted. 
 
 The study of the larger fungi has been to me one 
 of the greatest pleasures of my life : when all things 
 else have failed, this has never failed ; it has taken 
 me into the pleasantest of places and amongst the 
 best of people. Had it not been for fungi, I should 
 have been dead years ago ; often tired, jaded, and 
 harassed with business matters, a stroll in the rich 
 autumn woods has given me a renewed lease of life. 
 In these favourite haunts I never tire or flag ; rain, 
 fog, and mud, never detract from the pleasures of 
 the woods to me I am only depressed in the hot, 
 dry weather of midsummer. In the autumn I con- 
 stantly visit the forests, with all my collecting para- 
 phernalia ; I sometimes take a saw to cut off the 
 big, woody, fungus excrescences of trees. I was 
 once fortunate enough to find a ladder in a wood, 
 which proved invaluable for ascending the beeches 
 in search of Agaricus mucidus, &c. I, however, find 
 fungi everywhere : I only go round the corner, and 
 there they are. I often visit a neighbouring builder's 
 yard, and descend the sawpits, to the amazement of 
 
 N 
 
178 FUNGI. 
 
 the operatives: some of the rarest species of our 
 Flora, and many new ones, I have found within a 
 few minutes' walk of my own house. I once found 
 a rare Lentinus on a log as it was being carted down 
 King William Street, and a year or so ago an unde- 
 scribed Peziza flourished inside my cistern. 
 
 Collecting fungi is not without its humours as 
 well as its pleasures, as the following will show. I 
 once saw a portly, well-dressed gentleman walking 
 along the high road, with his vasculum over his 
 shoulders, and carrying home (one in each hand) a 
 pair of cast-off, rotten boots, discarded by some va- 
 grant ; the rotting leather having produced a crop of 
 rare microscopic fungi. At times abominable cast- 
 off foetid gipsy rags will be lovingly taken from out 
 a ditch, and choice pieces cut out and consigned to 
 the vasculum of the cryptogamic botanist ; at other 
 times some rare species will be seen " up a tree," 
 and it has several times happened in my presence 
 that one enthusiastic botanist has got on to the 
 shoulders of another to secure a prize, or even waded 
 into a pond to get at some prostrate fungus-bearing 
 log. The humours of truffle hunting are manifold. 
 I have seen a gentleman trespass, on hands and 
 knees, through a holly hedge, on to a gentleman's 
 lawn, and there dig up the turf in some promising 
 spot, risking an attack from the house-dog, or a few 
 
FUNGI. 179 
 
 shots from the proprietor ; the said trespasser mean- 
 while armed with a rake, gouge, and dangerous- 
 looking open knife. Country labourers are often 
 sorely puzzled by the acts of cryptogamic botanists ; 
 they stand agape in utter amazement to witness 
 poisonous " frog-stools " bagged by the score. Oft- 
 times one gets warned that the plants are " deadly 
 pisin " ; but collectors are usually looked upon as 
 harmless lunatics, a climax in this direction gene- 
 rally being reached if a gentleman in search of 
 Ascoboli and the dung-borne Pezizse, sits down, and 
 after making a promising collection of horse or 
 cow-dung, carefully wraps these treasures in tissue 
 paper, and puts them in his " sandwich-box." 
 
 One word of warning to the beginner never, on 
 any account, amass and put away a lot of imperfect 
 materials with insufficient notes, for in the end they 
 will prove worse than useless. To name fungi with 
 certainty the fullest notes and most complete mate- 
 rials are indispensable : without these nothing what- 
 ever can be done. It is far better to laboriously 
 make out twenty species, and know them in all their 
 aspects for certain, than to amass imperfect materials 
 of two thousand without any sound botanical know- 
 ledge. If the former course is pursued, the study of 
 fungi will prove a never-failing source of pleasure to 
 the mind and of health to the body. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 FUNGI. 
 
 In conclusion, 1 cannot do better than quote a few 
 words written by the illustrious Fries (now more than 
 eighty years of age) in the preface to a recent work 
 of his on Fungi. He says : " Now in the evening of 
 my life, I rejoice to call to mind the abundant 
 pleasures which my study of the more perfect fungi, 
 sustained for more than half a century, has through- 
 out this long time afforded me Therefore, to 
 
 botanists, who can wander at will the country side, I 
 commend the study of these plants as a peren- 
 nial fountain of delight and admiration for that 
 Supreme Wisdom which reigns over universal 
 nature." 
 
LICHENS. 181 
 
 XIII. 
 
 LICHENS. 
 BY THE REV. JAS. CROMBIE, F.L.S., ETC. 
 
 MUCH as it is to be regretted, it cannot be ques- 
 tioned that of those who have devoted themselves to 
 the study of botany, Hellenists have always been 
 " few and far between." While flowering plants 
 have had their hosts of enthusiastic students, and 
 while other classes of cryptogamics have had due 
 attention paid to them, the study of lichens has, 
 up even to the present time, been but too much 
 neglected. To many indeed the term conveys only 
 some faint and confused idea, and though they know 
 that there are plants so called, they are at the same 
 time utterly ignorant of their nature. With flower- 
 ing plants, ferns, mosses, seaweeds, and even fungi, 
 they have at least some acquaintance, more or less 
 accurate; but lichens they generally pass by with 
 indifference, regarding them merely as "time-stains" 
 on the trees, the walls, and the rocks where they 
 grow. Nay, we have even met with some professed, 
 and otherwise well-informed botanists, who, while 
 recognizing certain of the larger and more con- 
 
182 LICHENS. 
 
 spicuous species as lichens, yet fancied that many of 
 the smaller and more obscure species were merely 
 inorganic discolorations. It is certainly very difficult 
 to account for such a state of matters at the present 
 day, when so much attention is being paid to almost 
 every other class of plants. Vainly have I sought 
 either in the nature of the case itself or in my 
 conversations with botanists, for any intelligible 
 solution of such apathy and neglect : though many 
 good and sufficient reasons have presented them- 
 selves to my mind why they should be regarded in 
 a very different light. It cannot with any show of 
 propriety be objected that lichens are an uninter- 
 esting class of plants, and consequently undeserving 
 of serious study. So far from this, they are in va- 
 rious respects as interesting not only as any other 
 class of cryptogamics, but also as many other plants, 
 which occupy a higher and more conspicuous place 
 in the scale of vegetation. Being as it were the 
 pioneers of all other plant life, for which they serve 
 to prepare the soil on the coral islet 'and the barren 
 rock, constituting the most generally diffused class 
 of terrestrial plants on the surface of the globe, from 
 arctic lands to tropical climes, presenting essential 
 simplicity of structure, being composed entirely of 
 an aggregation of cells, though at the same time this 
 is amply compensated for by endless variety of form,. 
 
LICHENS. 183 
 
 adorning as they do, with their variously 'coloured 
 thalli and apothecia, the most romantic and the most 
 dreary situations, affording in some cases valuable 
 material for the dyer and the perfumer, nay, even 
 for medicinal purposes, supplying, as some of them 
 do, more or less, nutritious food for man and beast, 
 under circumstances and in regions where no other 
 can be had, it is very evident that the prevailing 
 neglect of them cannot arise from their being in any 
 way uninteresting, and destitute either of beauty or 
 utility. Nor does this, as might be inferred, result 
 from any peculiar difficulty attending their study. 
 There indeed seems to be a notion prevalent, not 
 only amongst the students of phsenogamic, but also 
 amongst those of cryptogamic plants, that there are, 
 somehow or other, almost insuperable difficulties 
 connected with the pursuit of Lichenology. Now, it 
 is quite true that the correct study of these plants is 
 by no means an easy one, and that an accurate 
 knowledge of them is not to be obtained in a day or 
 an hour; but the same may, with equal truth, be 
 said of any other branch of Phytology, which re- 
 quires minute research and microscopical examina- 
 tion. Here, as elsewhere, there is no royal road to 
 learning, and the difficulties which lie in the way 
 must be boldly faced. If the student can only 
 muster up sufficient courage to cross the threshold 
 
184 LICHENS. 
 
 and prosecute his investigations with zeal and steady 
 perseverance, he will find in this, as in other cases, 
 that the difficulties which looked so formidable at a 
 distance, will, one by one, be successfully surmounted. 
 But to whatever cause the paucity of lichenists, 
 both in our own and other countries, is to be 
 attributed, it certainly does not originate in any 
 difficulty connected with their collection and preser- 
 vation. In fact, there is no other class of plants, 
 where these, and more especially the latter, can be 
 so easily effected, at a little expenditure of time and 
 trouble. A few simple directions are, therefore, all 
 that are necessary to be given on these points. As 
 to the collecting of lichens, it has already been 
 intimated that they are almost universally distri- 
 buted, though of course in this respect subject to 
 the same laws as the higher orders of vegetation. 
 In our own country we have now a list of about 
 eight hundred species, constituting by far the 
 greater proportion of the Lichen Flora of Europe. In 
 most parts of Great Britain and Ireland, a very fair 
 number of these may readily be gathered, capable, 
 as they are, of existing in almost every situation 
 where they can derive requisite nourishment from 
 the atmosphere. On the rocks and boulders of the 
 seashore and the mountain-side, on the trunks and 
 branches of trees in. ods and forests, on peaty 
 
LICHENS. 185 
 
 soil of bare moorlands, and on stone fences in up- 
 land tracts, nay, even on old pales and walls in 
 suburban districts, a goodly harvest may generally 
 be reaped. Few localities indeed there are, within 
 the area of these islands (London and its environs, 
 where the atmosphere is so impregnated with 
 smoke, being the chief exception), in which the 
 lichenist will find his occupation gone. True, it is 
 only in some more favoured tracts, chiefly maritime 
 and montane, that he can expect to meet with many 
 of our rarer species; but even in most lowland 
 districts, especially such as are well wooded, he 
 may, with profit, pursue his researches, and collect 
 various of the more common species. These will 
 just be as useful in making him acquainted with the 
 structure and physiology of lichens as though he 
 had gathered the rarest that grow on Ben Lawers 
 or by Killarney's lake. The apparatus requisite for 
 collecting is neither complicated nor expensive. 
 
 A tin japanned vasculum, or what is perhaps 
 better still, a black leather haversack, of larger or 
 smaller dimensions as the case may be, suspended 
 over the shoulder by a strap, is of course indispen- 
 sable for holding the specimens gathered. The 
 latter of these we have found to be more generally 
 convenient, as we can take it with us also for a short 
 ramble, without its attracting so much attention 
 
186 
 
 LICHENS. 
 
 from curious rustics, as the less-known and more 
 singular-looking vasculum. Two sets of instruments 
 are also necessary for removing the plant from the 
 substratum on which it grows, as well as for break- 
 ing off in many cases a thin portion of the latter 
 along therewith. These are a geologist's hammer 
 and chisel for such as grow on rocks, boulders, 
 and stones ; a gardener's pruning-knife for such as 
 grow on trees, pales, and the ground ; as also an 
 ordinary table-knife for detaching, by insertion 
 under them, such foliaceous species as can thus be 
 separated from the substratum. To these must be 
 added several sheets of soft and moderately thick 
 paper, cut into different sizes (some newspapers suit 
 remarkably well), in which to wrap up the indi- 
 vidual specimens and prevent them rubbing against 
 each other ; a few card-boxes also, of various sizes, 
 in which for greater safety to place any of the more 
 brittle species, or fragments of the rarer ones, by 
 themselves ; and a pocketjens of good magnifying 
 power, by which we may be able to detect on the 
 spot those minuter species which the naked eye can 
 with difficulty distinguish. With these the lichenist 
 is fully equipped for an excursion, whether " near at 
 hand or far away," and, with waterproof and 
 umbrella, is ready to take the field even in 
 threatening weather. A good deal of discrimina- 
 
LICHENS. 187 
 
 tion must be used in the selection of specimens for 
 removal, which, in all cases where such can be 
 obtained, ought to be fertile, with both apothecia 
 and spermagones fully developed. Hence, such as 
 are too old or too young, may be passed by, as 
 neither the spores nor spermatia, by which alone, 
 in many instances, they can be determined, will be 
 found in a normal condition, any more than the 
 thallus itself. The specimens gathered ought in 
 every case to be of sufficient size to show distinctly 
 the character of the thallus and of the fructifica- 
 tion. Where, however, the thallus, as it frequently 
 does, spreads very extensively over the substratum, 
 it will be sufficient to break off such a portion from 
 the circumference towards the centre, as will give- 
 an adequate idea of the more important character- 
 istics of the plant. This is a point of considerable 
 consequence ; for should a portion be taken off from 
 the circumference alone, or from the centre alone, 
 it will often be entirely unsuitable for showing the 
 real nature of the plant, and be quite useless for 
 purposes of description. A little experience, how- 
 ever, will serve to prevent the commission of a 
 mistake, into which, judging from the number of 
 imperfect specimens which are sent me to be 
 named, beginners are very apt to fall. Practice 
 will also in time enable the tyro to use the hammer 
 
188 LICHENS. 
 
 and chisel in such a way as to obtain neat specimen? 
 of saxicole species a matter of importance with 
 respect to their subsequent mounting. As to the 
 best season for collecting, 1 need scarcely remind 
 the reader that lichens are perennial plants, re- 
 markable for their longevity, and that during the 
 whole year round they may be found in fruit. The 
 lichenist has not to wait for any particular month 
 or months, as other botanists have to do, before he 
 can collect the objects of his search in a fully- 
 developed condition. Spring, summer, autumn, and 
 even- winter, except when the snow conceals all 
 vegetation beneath its white mantle, are all alike to 
 him, and in each he will find every species of lichen 
 in perfection. At the same time, he will be most 
 successful after a shower of rain or a slight frost 
 has fallen, inasmuch as, becoming swollen with the 
 moisture then imbibed, many of the minuter species 
 which might otherwise be overlooked, are more 
 readily perceived, and the foliaceous species more 
 easily removed from the substratum to which they 
 are more or less closely affixed. 
 
 Nothing more need be said on the collecting of 
 lichens, as a short experience will be more useful 
 than further details. We proceed, therefore, to give 
 a few hints on their subsequent preservation. This 
 is a very easy process, presenting no difficulty what- 
 
LICHENS. 189 
 
 ever, and occupying but little time. We shall 
 suppose that the collector has returned from a 
 successful expedition, with his vasculum or haver- 
 sack well filled with specimens from all sorts of 
 habitats. Opening the papers in which they have 
 been wrapped up, he will take them out one by one, 
 and place them separately upon a table, over which a 
 newspaper has previously been spread. If gathered 
 in wet weather, they ought not to be left long in the 
 papers, as in this case they are very apt to become 
 covered with mould. After allowing them to remain 
 in this position till they are thoroughly dry, he may 
 at once proceed with hammer and chisel, or with 
 knife and scissors, to reduce to a suitable size such 
 of them as he could not conveniently thus manipulate 
 in the field. When this is done, they may then be 
 affixed with gum, of a rather thick consistency, to 
 slips of white paper, with the locality and date of 
 their collection written beneath. There will be no 
 difficulty felt in thus affixing saxicole, corticole, and 
 lignicole species, though where the nature of the 
 stone or wood is more absorbent, several applica- 
 tions of the gum may be necessary before they 
 properly adhere. With terricole species, however, 
 a somewhat more lengthened process is necessary, 
 owing to the brittle nature of the substratum, in 
 consequence of which, if not properly preserved, 
 
190 LICHENS. 
 
 they often crumble into dust in the herbarium. To 
 prevent this, M. Norman, of Tromsoe, Norway, has 
 recently prescribed a solution of isinglass in spirits 
 -of wine, which, when liquefied in a vessel plunged 
 in water of the temperature of 25-30 C., is greedily 
 imbibed by the earth, and becomes inspissated into 
 a solid gelatine at a temperature below 15. This 
 solution may be applied until the earth becomes 
 thoroughly saturated, and after it is perfectly dry, 
 the specimens will possess sufficient hardness and 
 tenacity, and may then be mounted like the others. 
 So far, however, as my own experience goes, I have 
 found a weak solution of gum-arabic, frequently 
 repeated, and applied to the under surface and edges 
 of the specimens, to be quite as efficacious; and if 
 after becoming thoroughly dry, they be first affixed 
 by a thicker solution to slips of thin tissue-paper, 
 they will be equally ready for being mounted as 
 above. Either of these two methods may also with 
 advantage be applied to such species as grow upon 
 decayed mosses. Slight pressure may be applied to 
 the thallus of fruticulose, filamentose, and foliaceous 
 species, in order that they may lie better in the 
 herbarium ; but this should be done only to a very 
 limited degree, so as not to obliterate the normal 
 appearance of the branches or lobes. As the cha- 
 racter of the under surface of the thallus is fre- 
 
LICHENS. . 191 
 
 quently of great importance, at least in foliaceous and 
 fruticulose plants, a portion of this, not necessarily 
 detached, should be turned over, for facility of in- 
 spection, and pressed down on the paper, before the 
 specimens have become quite dry and rigid. In 
 order to destroy any insects that may be upon the 
 plants when gathered, or by which they may after- 
 wards be infested, lichenists at one time were in the 
 habit of poisoning them with corrosive sublimate. 
 Frequent exposure, however, to the air in dry 
 weather, and the presence of a little camphor, will 
 be quite sufficient to prevent any mischief from this 
 source. 
 
 But having thus arranged, though the arrangement 
 is but temporary, the specimens gathered, on slips 
 -of white paper, the next and most important point 
 is their due examination and determination. This, 
 in the present advanced state of Lichenology, is un- 
 questionably, in many cases, a task of considerable 
 difficulty, and in the short space at our disposal it 
 would be quite impossible to give anything like an 
 adequate explanation of the mode in which this is 
 to be effected. Suffice it at present to say that 
 sections must be made of the thallus to ascertain 
 the character of its different layers, as also sections 
 of the apothecia and spermagones to ascertain the 
 nature of the spores and spermatia. For both pur- 
 
192 
 
 LICHENS 
 
 poses a good microscope, with ^-inch object-glass, is 
 absolutely indispensable to the student. The exami- 
 nation of the spores, upon which, in so many cases, 
 the determination of the species chiefly depends, 
 should present little or no difficulty, at least to the 
 fungologist. It may be readily effected by moisten- 
 ing the apothecium with water, and then, with a dis- 
 secting-knife, making a thin vertical section through 
 its centre. Putting this on a glass slide, or in a 
 compressorium, in a drop of hydrate of potash, and 
 
 Section of Physcia parietma. 
 
 a. Paraphyses. 6. Asci with spores, c. Hypothecmm. d. Section of 
 apothecium. e. Spore. 
 
 then placing it under the microscope, a view will be 
 obtained of the asci, spores, paraphyses, hypothe- 
 cium, &c., each of which may afterwards be insulated 
 
LICHENS. 
 
 193 
 
 and examined more minutely in detail. Take, for 
 example, the well-known beautiful yellow lichen 
 (Pliyscia parietina), so common everywhere on walls, 
 rocks, and trees, and treat a very thin section of the 
 mature apothecium as before mentioned. Under the 
 microscope it will appear as represented in Fig. 43. 
 In the same way the spermagones may be exa- 
 mined, when the nature of the sterigmata and 
 spermatia will be ap- 
 parent. By cutting 
 across the thallus of 
 the above species, we 
 can perceive even by 
 the naked eye that it 
 consists of three dif- 
 ferent layers, which 
 
 , . 11 Section of Physcia parietina. 
 
 when microscopically a . Cortical8tratum . 6<Gonidic stratum . 
 examined present the c - Medullary stratum, 
 
 appearance shown in the above figure. 
 
 But in addition to this microscopical examination, 
 it is also requisite to observe tne different chemical 
 reactions produced on the asci or the hymeneal 
 gelatine with iodine (I), which will tinge these 
 either bluish or reddish wine-coloured, or else leave 
 them uncoloured. Similarly the thallus, including 
 both the cortical layer and the medulla, may be 
 tested with hydrate of potash (K), and hypochlorite 
 
194: LICHENS. 
 
 of lime (C), the latter being applied either by itself 
 or added to K when wet. In some cases no reaction 
 will be produced by these either upon the cortical 
 stratum or the medulla; in others they will be 
 tinged yellowish or reddish. The formulae for the 
 preparation of these reagents are : for iodine, iodine, 
 gr. j ; iodide of potash, gr. iij, distilled water, ^ oz. ; 
 for hydrate of potash, equal weights of caustic potash 
 and water ; for hydrochlorite of lime, chloride of 
 lime and water of any strength. After correctly 
 ascertaining the specific name of the specimens 
 collected, this is to be written on the slips of paper 
 to which they are affixed, above the locality and 
 date, and the best of them, including all varieties 
 and forms, selected for subsequent mounting in the 
 herbarium. This may be effected either in the same 
 way as the mounting of phanerogamic plants, or by 
 affixing the specimens to pieces of millboard covered 
 with white paper, and arranging them according to 
 the order of the genera and species in the system of 
 classification which may be adopted. For facility 
 of reference the latter is undoubtedly the preferable 
 method ; and if the cards are disposed in a cabinet 
 with shallow drawers, they will not, so far at least 
 as our British species are concerned, be found to 
 occupy too much space. 
 
SEAWEEDS. 195 
 
 SEAWEEDS. 
 BY W. H. GRATTANHT. 
 
 IN some articles published in ' Science-Gossip ' a 
 few years ago, I gave some directions for collecting 
 and preserving Marine Algae, or seaweeds, and 
 although, I think, it will be difficult to simplify 
 those directions, or even to add much tnat would be 
 really serviceable to young beginners in this de- 
 lightful pursuit, it is my intention, in going over the 
 ground once more, to be as explicit as I possibly can ; 
 and here, on the threshold of the subject, I have a few 
 words to say to one or two occasional contributors to 
 that journal, who, in calling attention to the beauty 
 of marine vegetation, and urging young persons to 
 collect and preserve Algae, have advised them to 
 ignore books on the subject, and go to the shore, use 
 their own eyes, and collect for themselves, &c. I 
 am sorry very greatly to differ from such advice. 
 Collecting in this way may be amusing enough to 
 those who care not for science, but when it leads to 
 parcels of seaweeds, picked up at random, being sent 
 to botanists with a request that the names of such 
 
196 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 plants should be sent to the writer, it is the reverse 
 of pleasure to the scientific botanist, for it gives him 
 infinite trouble, and enables him to convey but very 
 imperfect information to his applicant. The editor 
 of that journal has often been thus appealed to, and 
 packages of decayed rubbish have frequently been 
 sent to me for examination, containing species or 
 rather fragments of plants, which, for the most part, 
 were utterly worthless and defied identification. 
 
 Almost all collectors commence by mounting plants 
 which a little experience proves to be really what 
 the old poet termed " alga projecta vilior " ; but 
 as seaweed-gathering, like everything else, requires 
 practice, beginners must not be disappointed because 
 they do not find rarities or fine specimens whenever 
 and wherever they may seek for them. 
 
 When I think of the difficulties I experienced at 
 the outset of my study of marine botany, especially in 
 the collecting and drying of seaweeds, I feel strongly 
 inclined to urge all beginners to obtain some in- 
 formation concerning Marine Algae before they go 
 to the shore to collect for themselves. A very few 
 hours of study with an experienced algologist, or 
 even a perusal of some illustrated work on British 
 algse, will save much trouble and materially assist 
 the unpractised eye in selecting specimens for the 
 herbarium. I may here mention as highly useful 
 to incipient algologists Dr. Landsborough's ' British 
 
SEAWEEDS. 197 
 
 Seaweeds/ and Professor Harvey's ' Manual,' either 
 of which may be obtained for a few shillings ; but if 
 my readers are resident in London, I advise them 
 to pay a few visits to the Library of the British 
 Museum, and there inspect Dr. Harvey's ' Phycol ogia 
 Britannica.' In this magnificent work they will find 
 coloured figures of nearly every British seaweed, 
 with drawings from magnified portions, and various 
 structural details of the highest value to students ; 
 and I once more impress on all collectors the im- 
 portance of some degree of book-learning ere they 
 sally forth, bag or vasculum in hand, to cull the 
 lovely "flowers of the ocean," or gather what best may 
 please them from the rejectamenta on the shore. 
 
 If the collector wishes to learn, not merely the 
 names of plants, but to distinguish species, he will do 
 well to provide himself with a copy of Harvey's 
 little volume the ' Synopsis of British Seaweeds/ and 
 a Stanhope or Coddington lens, by means of which 
 he can examine portions of delicate plants as he 
 finds them, and compare them with the descriptions 
 given in the * Synopsis ' ; in this way, if he have any 
 success during his excursions, he will quickly become 
 familiar with most of the plants which are cast ashore 
 or grow within tide-marks. 
 
 Time will not admit of, neither is space at pre- 
 sent available for, a single line beyond what may 
 be practically serviceable to my youthful readers ; 
 
198 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 therefore I will hasten to describe the course of* 
 action in seaweed-collecting as I have practised it 
 for many years. At once, then, to the shore, but not 
 to the sandy shore, for only useless decayed rubbish, 
 or here and there some straggling plants of Zostera 
 marina, or grass-wrack, will be met with there. The 
 collector must away to the rocks, and search carefully 
 every pool he meets with, from a little distance 
 below high-water mark, and so on down to the 
 water's edge, always remembering that it is better 
 to collect while the tide is receding than as it is 
 coming in. 
 
 Presuming that few persons will think of collect- 
 ing seaweeds much earlier than the month of May, 
 let me observe that most of the accessible species of 
 olive and green plants which grow on rocky shores 
 and in tide-pools, will be found from May to June 
 in pretty fair condition, but very few red plants, 
 except those which grow on the shady sides of rock- 
 pools, or under the shelter of the larger olive weeds, 
 will be met with until a considerable space is laid 
 bare by the receding water at the low spring tides, 
 about a day or two before and after the full moon. 
 
 As nearly all the rare red weeds grow in deep 
 water, they are seldom taken in any degree of per- 
 fection unless they are dredged ; but in the summer 
 months, say from June to the end of August, many 
 fine plants are occasionally thrown up from deep 
 
SEAWEEDS. 199 
 
 water, and others are found growing on the stems 
 of the great oar-weeds, portions of which are cast 
 ashore, beautifully fringed with one or more species 
 of Delesseria and other rare Khodosperms in fact, 
 during the rising tide, diligent collectors may secure 
 many a lovely deep-water plant as it comes floating 
 in, but which, if allowed to remain long exposed to 
 the action of sunlight, will fade in colour and de- 
 compose before it can be mounted. This is espe- 
 cially the case with all the soft gelatinous red plants, 
 such as the Callithamnia, and all the Gloiocladise, as 
 well as a few of the softer olive weeds ; and here I 
 may observe that there is one genus of beautiful 
 olive plants, the Sporoclmacese, which must on no 
 account be put into the vasculum with any of the 
 delicate red plants, for they not only very rapidly 
 decompose, but injure almost all others with which 
 they are placed in contact. The species are not 
 numerous, and they may be easily recognized, after 
 having been previously studied from the coloured 
 figures either in Harvey's ' Phycologia,' or in Brad- 
 bury and Evans's 'Nature-printed Seaweeds.' It is 
 also a curious fact respecting this genus, that while 
 they are all of a beautiful olive tint in the growing 
 state, they invariably change to a fine verdigris-green 
 in drying ; and indeed this is very generally the case 
 with the filamentous olive weeds, the Fuci, or common 
 rock-weeds, as constantly turning quite black after 
 
200 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 mounting: whence the term, that of " Melanosperm," 
 which is given to the subdivision to which all the 
 olive weeds belong. 
 
 As there are so few seaweeds which have gene- 
 rally known common names, I shall make no apology 
 for using the names by which they are known to 
 science, presuming that all intending collectors will, 
 as I have already suggested, gain some knowledge of 
 Terminology ere they go out " seaweeding." 
 
 Beginners should be cautioned against the very 
 natural error of bringing home too many plants at a 
 time ; they must be moderate in their gatherings, or 
 be content to risk the loss of some choice specimens, 
 which will decompose unless they are attended to 
 before night. The first thing to be done upon 
 arriving at home, is to empty the collecting-bag into 
 a white basin of sea-water, and to select the best 
 and cleanest plants as soon as possible, giving each a 
 good swill before placing it in another vessel of clean 
 water, and getting rid of rejected plants at once, so 
 that the basin first used will be available for re- 
 washing the weeds before they are severally placed 
 in the mounting dish. When a day is fixed on for 
 seaweeding, the collector should order a large bucket 
 of clean sea- water, which, after being left to settle, 
 should be strained through a towel, so as to be as 
 free as possible from sand and dirt. Two or three 
 large pie-dishes will be necessary, the deeper the 
 
SEAWEEDS. 201 
 
 better, and white, if such can be obtained. Place < 
 these on a separate table with towels under them, 
 and reserve a table specially for the mounting dish 
 and the parcels of papers, calicoes, and blotting- 
 papers. The large white bath used in photography 
 is very well adapted for mounting seaweeds ; the lip 
 at one corner is convenient for pouring off soiled 
 water, and its form that of an oblong is most 
 suitable for receiving the papers on which the 
 plants are to be mounted. Beside this vessel should 
 be placed the following implements a porcupine 
 quill, two camel-hair pencils (one small, the other 
 large and flat), a pair of strong brass forceps, a pen- 
 knife, a pair of scissors, a small sponge, an ivory 
 paper-knife, and two thin plates of perforated zinc 
 somewhat less in length and breadth than the inside 
 of the mounting dish. 
 
 Smooth drawing paper, or fine white cartridge 
 paper, is generally employed for mounting. The 
 operator should be provided with three different 
 sizes of paper, and these should have each a piece 
 of very fine calico and four pieces of blotting-paper 
 to correspond. The process of mounting one of the 
 filamentous or branching species is as follows : The 
 specimen being cleaned and placed in the mounting 
 dish, a piece of paper of suitable size is laid on one 
 of the perforated zinc plates, and both are then 
 slipped quickly under the floating weed. The root 
 
202 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 or base of the specimen is then pressed down on the 
 paper with a finger of the left hand, while the right 
 hand is employing the forceps or porcupine quill in 
 arranging the plant in as natural a position as. 
 possible, ere the zinc plate is gently and gradually 
 raised at the top or bottom, as may be necessary, ta 
 ensure a perfect display of every portion of the 
 plant ; but if, upon drawing it out of the water, it 
 should present an unsightly appearance from too 
 thick an overlapping of the branches, the whole must 
 be reimmersed, and a little pruning of superfluous- 
 portions may be employed with advantage to the 
 specimen and satisfaction to the operator. Care 
 should be taken that the water be drained off the 
 paper as completely as possible before the calico is 
 laid over the plant, and this is accomplished by 
 raising the paper containing the plant as it still lies- 
 on the zinc plate, and transferring it to a thin board 
 placed in an inclined position against one of the 
 basins, and with the large camel-hair pencil paint 
 off the water as it runs away from the specimen, and 
 absorb what remains, when the paper is laid flatj. 
 with the sponge. Delicate species may be left to 
 drain for a few minutes, while the operator is arrang- 
 ing other specimens. When the water is sufficiently 
 drained off, the paper is then laid on the blotter, and 
 the piece of calico is placed upon the plant a sheet 
 of blotter being laid upon the calico. 
 
SEAWEEDS. 203- 
 
 Care should be observed in subjecting plants to 
 pressure, which, in the first instance, should be suffi- 
 cient only to help the absorption of water. The first 
 set of blotting-papers should be changed in half an 
 hour after the whole batch of specimens have been 
 placed in the press, and these must be thoroughly 
 dried before they are used again. After the second 
 or third change of blotters, the plants should remain 
 under strong pressure for two or three days ; but the 
 pieces of calico must not be removed until it is pretty 
 certain that the papers and plants are quite dry. 
 
 With the exception of the Fuel or common rock- 
 weeds, I never place seaweeds in fresh water : with 
 these, especially Fucus serratus, F. nodosus, F. vesi- 
 culosus, and F. canalieulatus, a few hours' immersion 
 in fresh water is an advantage, as it soaks the salt 
 out of their fronds and renders them more pliable. 
 As all the Fuci turn black in drying, and few of them 
 adhere well to paper, I arrange my specimens in. 
 single layers between the folds of a clean dry towel,, 
 and keep them under pressure until they are quite 
 dry ; they may then be put away loosely, or gummed 
 on sheets of paper. 
 
 The foregoing directions for mounting filamentous 
 seaweeds are applicable to all the branching species 
 of Olive, Eed, and Green plants ; but in each of the 
 three subdivisions there are a few species which are 
 so gelatinous in fact, so soft and spongy, that thev 
 
"204 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 require the utmost care during pressure, otherwise 
 they adhere to the calico and break off in frag- 
 ments as it is drawn away. Such plants must be 
 left to dry in a horizontal position for an hour or so 
 before the calico and blotters are placed over them, 
 and pressure must be very slight until they have 
 adhered closely to the paper. Among the Chloro- 
 sperms, or green plants, there are the various species 
 of Codium, young plants of which only are manage- 
 able or indeed desirable. In the Melanosperms, 
 some species of the genus Mesogloia will require care 
 and patience in mounting, as well as the long string- 
 like plant, known as Chorda filum ; and again, the 
 spreading tuberous mass called Leathsia tuberiformis, 
 portions of which should be cut from the rock, the 
 sand scraped and washed out, then laid on the wet 
 paper x and allowed to shrink for some hours ere 
 calico blotters and pressure be applied. These 
 difficulties are much more numerous among the 
 Khodosperms, or red seaweeds, experience only 
 teaching the best method of treatment. I will, 
 however, mention the names of some very trouble- 
 some plants, the fronds of which, if subjected to pres- 
 sure too soon, burst and discharge their carmine con- 
 tents ; not only presenting an unsightly appearance, 
 but destroying the specimen. These are Griffithsia 
 coralUna, Dudresnaia eoccinea, Naccaria Wiggliii, 
 all tiie Cliylodadia, and the rare Gloiosiphonia, as well 
 
SEAWEEDS. 205 
 
 as the slimy worm-like plant known" as Nemalion 
 multifidum. 
 
 In addition to these troubles among the red plants, 
 there is an opposite difficulty connected with several 
 Khodosperins which must be pointed out ; and that 
 is owing to an absence or scarcity of gelatine in 
 their substance, which is in some of a stout, leathery, 
 or horny nature, and in others is due to a coating of 
 carbonate of lime, which completely envelops the 
 vegetable structure. Among the former may be 
 mentioned the several species of Phyllophora, and 
 several among the genera Gigartina, Chondrus, and 
 Sphserococcus ; and in the latter, all the calcareous 
 Algre, especially the well-known Corallina officinalis 
 and Jdnia rubens. All these, and several others of a 
 membraneous nature, among the olive as well as the 
 red weeds, must be first mounted in the ordinary 
 manner, and when they are tolerably dry and begin 
 to shrink away from the paper, fill the mounting- 
 dish with stale skimmed milk; refloat the plants on 
 their papers in the milk, and indeed go through the 
 same process as before with the sea-water, but be 
 careful to absorb all the milk from off the surface of 
 the plants and the back of the papers, and then, 
 after the usual time for drying and pressing, the 
 most obstinate seaweed will be found adhering per- 
 fectly to the paper, and will remain so permanently. 
 
 One more difficulty must be referred to for the 
 
206 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 benefit of young beginners, who, in mounting some 
 of the Laminaria and that peculiar olive weed called 
 Himantlialia lorea, may wish to preserve the thick- 
 branching roots and stems. First wash the roots as 
 clean as possible, and then, with a sharp penknife, 
 make a clean cutting horizontally of the whole root 
 and some little distance up the thick round stem ; 
 then, after having removed the cut portions, place 
 the inner surface of the root and stem on the paper, 
 and the gelatinous matter which oozes from the 
 plant will cause the roots to adhere firmly to the 
 paper, and in drying, the usual olive tint of the 
 various species of Laminaria will be finely preserved. 
 Some botanists employ a mixture made of isinglass, 
 dissolved in alcohol, to fix some of the horny or 
 robust species on paper ; but if gum be made use of, 
 it is better to employ gum tragacanth than gum- 
 arabic, because, in drying, the former has none of 
 that objectionable glare which is peculiar to gum 
 arable. 
 
 As regards the best method of pressing seaweeds, 
 I think I can hardly do better than refer my readers 
 to the figure of a Seaweed Press (Fig. 45), which 
 I invented for myself many years ago, in which I 
 have pressed many thousands of beautiful seaweeds. 
 Almost any degree of pressure can be obtained in it : 
 first, by the thumb-screws on the iron rods at each 
 corner, and, finally, by means of the clamp which is 
 
SEAWEEDS. 
 
 207 
 
 strapped on the top of the press. Any intelligent 
 cabinet-maker or ironmonger could provide such 
 a press from an inspection of the figure ; the cost, 
 of course, varying with the dimensions and the 
 number of boards. 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 Seaweed Press. 
 
 With respect to localities favourable to seaweed- 
 gathering, I may specially mention the south coast 
 of Devon ; from Exmouth, where Bryopsis and 
 Padina pavonia grow in perfection, to Torquay and 
 the coves of Torbay, and down the coast to Plymouth, 
 
208 SEAWEEDS. 
 
 Cawsand Bay, and finally Whitsand Bay, the "happy 
 hunting-grounds" of the enthusiastic algologist. On 
 the north-east coast, Filey and Whitby must be 
 mentioned, as well as the shores upwards from Tyne- 
 mouth to Whitley. Peterhead is also a good locality,, 
 the rare Ectocarpus Mertensii, Odonthalia dentata, 
 and CallUliamnion floccosum being found there in 
 abundance. Other favourable stations in Scotland, 
 well known to me, are Lamlash Bay and Whiting 
 Bay ; nor must the Isle of Wight be forgotten, for 
 in the rock-pools, at Shanklin especially, the most 
 magnificent form of Padina pavonia may be found 
 growing during the summer months in the utmost 
 profusion. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg leave to inform my readers 
 that I have recently published a volume on British 
 Marine Algae, in which every species that is likely 
 to be met with by ordinary collectors is described, 
 and every British seaweed that is capable of illustra- 
 tion in a work intended for popular information, is 
 figured from plants in my own possession, and, in 
 addition, diagrams and figures from drawings of 
 magnified portions, illustrative of structure and 
 fructification, appear throughout the pages of my 
 work. 
 
( -2U-J ) 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adventnres of fungus hunt- 
 ers 
 
 Advice to fungus collectors 
 
 Affixing lichens 
 
 Agaric placed to catch 
 spores 
 
 Agaricus cucumis 
 
 melleus 
 
 mucidus 
 
 Agrostis stolon ifera .. 
 
 American moth-trap .. 
 
 Ammonia for insects 
 
 Anatomy of molluscs 
 
 of vertebrates 
 
 Anchomenus sexpunctatus 
 
 Ants' nests for beetles 
 
 Apothecia 
 
 Apparatus for taking in- 
 sects 
 
 Arm of man 
 
 Arrangement of eggs 
 
 of fossils 11 
 
 of plants 
 
 of shells 
 
 Arranging grasses . . 
 
 lichens 
 
 Artificial beetle-traps 
 
 Assiminea Grayann 
 
 Attracting insects .. 
 
 
 Beating for beetles .. 
 
 89 
 
 178 
 
 for larv& 
 
 47 
 
 179 
 
 Beech '.. .. 
 
 121 
 
 189 
 
 Beetles 
 
 67 
 
 
 by post 
 
 86 
 
 172 
 
 *"Knw* 4-s\ 4** 1 V. 
 
 
 & 1 2 
 
 176 
 
 , \\jiijie to nnci tnein 
 86-94 
 
 175 
 
 Beritall's drying-paper 
 
 141 
 
 177 
 
 Best season for lichens 
 
 188 
 
 140 
 
 trees for insects 
 
 51 
 
 57 
 
 Birds' eggs 
 
 27 
 
 59 
 
 nests . . 
 
 42 
 
 22 
 
 Bivalves 
 
 Kit 
 
 18 
 
 Bleaching bones 
 
 23 
 
 71 
 
 Blooms for attracting in- 
 
 
 91 
 
 sects 
 
 53 
 
 191 
 
 Blowing eggs 
 
 30 
 
 
 Blowpipe for eggs 
 
 31 
 
 57 
 
 Bog mosses 
 
 14f> 
 
 21 
 
 Ilombycea 
 
 45 
 
 39 
 
 Bones 
 
 16 
 
 , 13 
 
 of dog 
 
 17 
 
 135 
 
 Bone-preservers' shops 
 
 17 
 
 116 
 
 Books on seaweeds 196-7, 
 
 208 
 
 142 
 
 Boring holes in eggs 
 
 33 
 
 191 
 
 Bottle for beetles . . 
 
 76 
 
 87 
 
 Boulders 
 
 5 
 
 108 i 
 
 Box for carrying insects . . 
 
 55 
 
 57 ! 
 
 Braces for insects 
 
 6) 
 
 
 P 
 
 
210 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Breeding beetles 
 
 Bulb-tube 
 
 Bulimus aeutus 
 Butterflies and moths 
 
 at rest 
 
 Butterworts 
 
 Buying eggs .. .. 
 
 PAGE | 
 
 ,68-9 i 
 , 31 
 . 107 
 . 44 
 . 50 
 . 123 
 28 
 
 Cabinet for fungi .. .. 173 
 
 Cabinets for insects . . . . 66 
 
 for plants 136 
 
 Cage for virgin lepidoptera 52 
 
 Callithamnion floccosum . . 208 
 
 Campanula glomerata . . 129 
 
 rotundifolia .. .. 130 
 
 nniflora 130 
 
 Cardboard for mounting 
 
 beetles 79 
 
 Cataloguing of eggs . . . . 36 
 
 Caution in carrying boxes 97 
 
 Ceratodon purpureus . . 152 
 
 Chemical testing of lichens 194 
 
 Chip boxes 48 
 
 Chloroform bottle . . . . 58 
 
 Chorda filum 204 
 
 Chrysalis collecting . . . . 48-9 
 
 preserving 49 
 
 Classification of mosses . . 154 
 
 Cleaning the inside of eggs 33 
 
 shells 113 
 
 Coal-shale .. 3 
 
 Collecting and preserving 
 
 insects 44 
 
 birds' eggs abroad . . 30 
 
 fungi 160 
 
 , 146 
 
 Collecting plants and ferns 117 
 
 seaweeds 195 
 
 < Comparative Anatomy of 
 
 Vertebrates 18 
 
 Construction of egg cabinet 
 
 38, 40 
 
 Conovulus 107 
 
 Converts to geology . . . . 4 
 
 Coprinus atramentarius .. 160 
 
 domesticus .. .. 161 
 
 Coprnphaga, where to find 90 
 
 Corallina otficinalis .. .. 205 
 
 Cork saddle for insects .. 61 
 
 Corrosive sublimate .. .. 133 
 
 Cortical stratum of lichens 193 
 
 Cotyledons 120 
 
 Cure for mould on insects 64 
 
 D 
 
 Decomposition of fungi .. ]tj4 
 Description of eggs . . . . 37 
 Difficulties in seaweed 
 
 mounting 206 
 
 Dioecious plants .. .. 127 
 Directions in mounting 
 
 beetles 82-3 
 
 Discoloured beetles .. .. 84 
 Discriminating fungi ,. 175 
 Dissection of beetles . . . . 85 
 Distribution of lichens .. 182 
 
 of mosses 156 
 
 Dried yolk 35 
 
 Drying fungi 1 66 
 
 Drying-paper for grasses . . 1 11 
 Duck's-head hammer . . 7 
 Dudresnaia coccinea . . , . 204 
 
INDEX. 
 
 E 
 
 PACE 
 
 Economy of lichens .. .. If 4 
 
 Ectocarpus Mertensii . . '208 
 
 Egg collector's note-book . . 35 
 
 drills 30 
 
 Eggs of moths, &c 45 
 
 Embryo of plants .. .. 119 
 
 English names of plants .. 134 
 
 Entomological pins .. .. 83 
 
 Equipment of coleopterist 71 
 
 for fungus hunting .. 161 
 
 for gathering plants 128 
 
 of geologist . . . . 9 
 
 of hymenopterist . . 95 
 - for procuring land and 
 
 freshwater shells . . . . 102 
 
 for seaweed collecting 200 
 
 Examination of lichen spores 192 
 of mosses 149 
 
 F 
 
 Fading of eggs 35 
 
 Favourable spots for shells 108 
 
 Fertilization of plants .. 126 
 Flowers frequented by hy- 
 
 menoptera 96 
 
 of plants 126 
 
 Flowering plants and ferns 1 17 
 
 Fluid for mounting slugs 115 
 
 Fore leg of horse .. .. 21 
 
 Fossil hunting 5 
 
 plants 4 
 
 Fossils in boulders . . . . 6 
 
 French chalk for insects . . 65 
 
 Fries' 'Fungi' 180 
 
 Fruits of plants 128 
 
 Fuci 203 
 
 Fungi, collecting of .. .. 178 
 Furze ., .123 
 
 G 
 
 FAGR 
 
 Gardiner's ' British Mosses' 153 
 
 Gathering lichens .. .. 187 
 
 Geutiaua collina . . . . 130 
 
 Geological cabinets .. .. 11 
 
 enjoyment 14 
 
 equipment . . . . 9 
 
 examination of strata 10 
 
 hammers 7 
 
 maps 10 
 
 specimens 1 
 
 Geology in fields .. .. 5 
 
 Glass-topped boxes .. .. 13 
 
 Gloiosiphonia .. %. .. 204 
 
 Gonidic stratum of lichens 193 
 
 Grasses, when to select . . 128 
 
 , collecting of .. .. 139 
 
 , preserving of .. .. 140 
 
 Griffithsia corallina . . . . 204 
 
 Grossulariacese 134 
 
 Gum for mounting beetles 79 
 
 Gumming down plants .. 133 
 
 H 
 
 Habitats of grasses .. .. 144 
 
 Habits of mole 19 
 
 of snails 109 
 
 Half-hatched eggs .. .. 33 
 
 Harvey's ' Phycologia ' .. 197 
 
 Helix caperata 107 
 
 virgata 107 
 
 Hepatic* 145 
 
 Herbaria 132 
 
 Herbarium sheets .. .. 136 
 
 Himanthalia lorea .. .. 206 
 
 Holcus mollis 140 
 
 How to get fungus spores 171 
 
 | How to prepare skeletons 23 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PA OF. | 
 
 Hybernation of butterflies 50 
 
 PACK 
 
 Lepidodendron 4 
 
 Hydrobia ventrosa .. 
 
 108 
 
 Lepidoptera 
 
 44 
 
 similis 
 
 108 
 
 Lichen flora of Europe 
 
 185 
 
 Hymenoptera 
 
 95 
 
 Lichens, collecting of 
 
 181 
 
 Hypothecium of lichens . . 
 
 192 
 
 Lime (Tilia Europoca) 
 
 120 
 
 
 
 Liver mosses 
 
 145 
 
 I 
 
 
 Localities for fungi . . 
 
 164 
 
 Identification of eggs 
 Insect forceps 
 
 29 
 83 
 
 seaweed gathering . . 207 
 obtaining shells 106-110 
 London Catalogue . . . . 129 
 
 J 1 
 
 
 Luck in capturing beetles 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 Lycopods . . 
 
 115 
 
 Jania rubens 
 
 205 
 
 
 
 J ungermanniace re 
 
 154 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 Maceration of specimens . . 
 
 24 
 
 K 
 
 
 Mclvor's 4 Hepaticse Britan- 
 
 
 
 1,2 
 
 n iosB ' . ... 
 
 is.-; 
 
 176 
 
 Mantcll's, Dr., Works 
 Marasmius caulicinalis .. 
 
 Killing hymenoptera 
 
 97 
 
 insects 58-9 
 
 fo3tidus .. 
 
 170 
 
 
 
 
 
 -"" oiiclliy . . . . 
 
 
 impudicus 
 
 17G 
 
 T, 
 
 
 Materials for beetle pre- 
 
 
 JLj 
 
 
 serving 
 
 Sfr 
 
 Labelling eggs 
 
 36 
 
 Medals of creation 
 
 3 
 
 fossils 
 
 11 
 
 Medullary stratum of li- 
 
 
 specimens 
 
 134 
 
 chens 
 
 193 
 
 Labels 
 
 135 
 
 Melanogaster ambiguus . . 
 
 165 
 
 Lactarius turpis 
 
 176 
 
 Melanospcrms 
 
 204 
 
 Lfuminaria 
 
 206 
 
 Membraneous seaweeds . . 
 
 205 
 
 Land and freshwater shells 
 
 102 
 
 Method of setting out in- 
 
 
 Landsborough's ' British 
 
 
 sects 
 
 61 
 
 Seaweeds' 
 
 196 
 
 Microscopical examination 
 
 
 Lantern for catching in- 
 
 
 of lichens 
 
 193 
 
 sects 
 
 53 
 
 Microscopical examination 
 
 
 Lxrvse on fungi 
 
 166 
 
 of mosses 
 
 150 
 
 Leathsia tuberiformis 
 
 204 
 
 Missing links 
 
 1 
 
 Leaves of plants 
 
 125 
 
 Mode of securing hymen- 
 
 
 Lens for examining beetles 
 
 85 
 
 optera 
 
 9G 
 
INDEX. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 P 
 
 
 Modelling slugs, &c. 
 
 .. 114 
 
 TAG P. 
 
 Monoecious plants 
 
 .. 127 
 
 Packing eggs 
 
 38 
 
 Mosses 
 
 .. 145 
 
 . fungi 
 
 
 
 163 
 
 Mosses in bogs .. 
 
 .. 157 
 
 lichens 
 
 174 
 
 in fields 
 
 .. 156 
 
 Paddle of whale . . 
 
 21 
 
 on heaths . . 
 
 .. 156 < 
 
 Padina pavonia 
 
 208 
 
 
 157 
 
 Pace's Int 
 
 rnrlimt.nrv 'Tftvt- 
 
 
 on shady banks 
 
 .. 157 ! 
 
 book' { 
 
 by streams 
 
 .. 157 
 
 Paraphyses of lie-hens 
 
 192 
 
 by trees .. 
 
 .. 157 
 
 Paper for grasses 
 
 140 
 
 on walls 
 
 .. 156 ! 
 
 Petrology 
 
 
 6 
 
 on waste ground 
 
 .. 156 
 
 Peristomes of mosses 
 
 155 
 
 in woods 
 
 .. 157 
 
 Phallus impudicus 
 
 1G5 
 
 Moths at rest 
 
 .. 50 
 
 Phillips's 
 
 ' Guide to Geo- 
 
 
 Mounting beetles 
 
 .. 78 
 
 ' logy ' 
 
 
 3 
 
 mosses 
 
 .. 152 
 
 Physcia parietina 
 
 192 
 
 plants 
 
 .. 131 
 
 Pinning insects 
 
 60 
 
 T 
 
 .. 201 
 
 Pins for setting hymenop- 
 
 ocxv\> erHlo . . 
 
 Mussel shells 
 
 .. 104 
 
 tera 
 
 
 08 
 
 Mussels, how to prepare 
 
 111 
 
 Pisidium, 
 
 how to prepare 
 
 112 
 
 
 
 Plants for 
 
 herbarium 
 
 125 
 
 N 
 
 
 Platypus hammer 
 
 7 
 
 Naecaria "Wigghii 
 
 .. 204 
 
 Poa compressa 
 
 140 
 140 
 
 Neglect of lichens .. 
 Net for beetle catching 
 for sugaring 
 for water beetles 
 
 .. 182 
 72-73 
 .. 55 
 .. 74 
 
 Poisoning fungi 
 Pollen of plants 
 Polyporus 
 
 AT: I/ 
 
 174 
 127 
 172 
 
 
 igniarius 
 
 166 
 
 
 
 Precaution against grease 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 Preparation of mosses 
 
 148 
 
 Obtaining caterpillars 
 
 .. 46 
 
 Preparing 
 
 shells for cabinet 
 
 110 
 
 Odonthalia dentata 
 
 .. 208 
 
 ; Preservation of fungus 
 
 Odour of fungi 
 
 .. 176 
 
 spores 
 
 
 
 171 
 
 Oil-beetles 
 
 .. 81 
 
 ' of lichens .. .. 188-90 
 
 Olive-coloured seaweeds 
 
 199 
 
 of mosses 
 
 151 
 
 Osbert Salvin .. 
 
 .. 39 
 
 Preserving animals 
 
 23 
 
 Osteology 
 
 16, 22 
 
 cocoons 
 
 49' 
 
 of the mammalia 
 
 .. 18 
 
 eggs for cabinet 
 
 28 
 
214 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 i Preserving fresh fungi .. 165 
 
 fungi in fluid .. .. 170 
 
 insects' eggs .. .. 45 
 
 insects from decay .. 64 
 
 slugs 110 
 
 Pressing seaweeds . . . . 206 
 
 Pseudo-bombyces .. .. 45 
 
 Public herbaria . 132 
 
 Q 
 
 'Quarantine for insects .. 64 
 
 R 
 
 Rare fungi . . .... . . 178 
 
 .Hearing beetles from larvae 68 
 
 Re-carding beetles . . . . 84 
 
 Red seaweeds 198 
 
 Removing bodies from 
 
 shells 112 
 
 grease from insects .. 65 
 
 Repairing eggs 34 
 
 Rhinoceros bones . . . . 22 
 
 Rhizomes ... 123 
 
 Rhodosperms 204 
 
 S 
 
 'Sand pits for beetles 
 Searching for larvse 
 Season for collecting shells 
 Seaweed gathering . . 
 
 press 
 
 Seaweeds, collecting of .. 
 Section cut through aga- 
 
 ricus 
 
 Seeds of plants 
 
 Setting bristle 
 
 86 
 46 
 109 
 207 
 207 
 195 
 
 170 
 
 128 
 61 
 
 1 i 
 
 moths for cabinets 62, 63 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Setting out hymenoptera 99 
 Skeleton of mole .. .. 20 
 Skeletons of birds .. .. 20 
 Skull of a crocodile . . . . 19 
 Sliding stages for egg cabi- 
 nets 40 
 
 Snail shells 104 
 
 Solution for killing slugs 114 
 Specimens showing gills, 
 
 &c., of fungi 169 
 
 Spermagones 191 
 
 Sphinges 45 
 
 Sterigmata of lichens . . 193 
 
 Study of the larger fungi . . 177 
 Stupefying insects . . 97-8 
 
 Subterranean pupae .. .. 49 
 
 Sugaring 54 
 
 drum 56 
 
 Sweeping for beetles . . 89 
 
 Sycamore 122 
 
 Table for hymenoptera . . 99 
 Thullus of lichens .. ..193 
 Thatch beating .. .. 52 
 Tools for fungus collecting 162 
 
 for lichen collecting 186 
 
 Tortula muralis . . 147, 150 
 Trimming hammer .. .. 7 
 Triticum repens 140 
 
 U 
 
 Umbelliferre 134 
 
 Umbrella net 47 
 
 Use of camphor . . . . 66 
 of osteological speci- 
 mens 25 
 
INDEX. 
 
 215- 
 
 'Vnrit-ties of species .. 
 Varnishing eggs 
 
 tor lichens 
 
 PAM Where to find chrysalis 
 
 j ' 2 '> fungi .. 
 
 $5 
 
 185 
 
 lichens 
 
 mosses 
 
 jr~ seaweeds . . 
 
 to "sugar" .. ., 
 
 Washing eggs 34 i Woody specimens of fun- 
 
 Wbere to find caterpillars 4G ' gus 172 
 
 PAC.K 
 
 4 ( J 
 If.O 
 1S4 
 147 
 I'JS) 
 
 54 
 
 London: Piinted by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place, S.W. 
 

 
 
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