" 8. Leucobryaceæ. | " 13. Funariaceæ.
" 9. Trichostomaceæ. | " 14. Bryaceæ.
" 10. Grimmiaceæ. | " 15. Mniaceæ.
" 11. Orthotrichaceæ. | " 16. Bartramiaceæ.
Subdiv. 2.--Pleurocarpici.
Fam. 17. Hookeriaceæ. | Fam. 20. Leskeaceæ.
" 18. Fontinalaceæ. | " 21. Hypnaceæ.
" 19. Neckeraceæ. |
Sub-Class HEPATICINÆ.
Liver Mosses.
Fam. 1. Jungermanniaceæ. | Fam. 3. Anthocerotaceæ.
" 2. Marchantiaceæ. | " 4. Ricciaceæ.
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
cæspiticium, Grimmia pulvinata, Weisia cirrhata.
_In Clay Fields._--Phascum acaulon, Pottia truncatula and Starkeana.
_On Waste Ground and Heaths._--Ceratodon purpureus, Funaria
hygrometrica, Campylopus turfaceus, Bryum argenteum, nutans, and
pallens, Pleuridium subulatum, Dicranella heteromalla and varia,
Physcomitrium pyriforme, Pogonatum aloides, Polytrichum commune,
piliferum, and juniperinum, Tortula unguiculata and fallax, Bartramia
pomiformis, Jungermannia bicuspidata, Lepidozia reptans, Ptilidium
ciliare, Frullania tamarisci.
_Shady Banks and Woods._--Catharinea undulata, Weisia viridula,
Tortula subulata, Mnium hornum, Dicranum scoparium, Hypnum rutabulum,
velutinum, cupressiforme, prælongum, purum, and molluscum,
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 acutifolium, Gymnocybe palustris,
Hypnum cuspidatum, stellatum, aduncum, and fluitans, Jungermannia
inflata.
_Rocks and by Streams._--Grimmia apocarpa, Tridontium 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, Cryphæa
heteromalla, Homalia trichomanoides, Hypnum sericeum, Isothecium
myurum, Frullania dilatata, Radula complanata, Madotheca platyphylla.
Small as this list is, it will 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 conclude with the words of Horace:
Vive, vale! si quid novisti rectius istis,
Candidus imperti, si non, his utere mecum.
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) appertain 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 excessive 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 years crop must spring; 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 Agarics 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 atramentarius_, 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 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 complete set of things will be required,
which should include a very small garden-trowel or carpenter's gouge
(any saddler or bootmaker will make a suitable 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-compass,
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 umbrella
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 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 indispensable; 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 the 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 worthless by a loose puff-ball being placed with
them, 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 traversed: the various species of
truffles must be looked for principally in leafy glades--many prefer
a calcareous 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 dissolved 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 larvæ. 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 foetid treacle the next.
I have sometimes received large parcels 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
manifesting 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 sickening 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 with the least chance
of being recognized by even the most acute fungologist; others are so
deliquescent 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 _Polyporus 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 larvæ 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 larvæ 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 devoured by rapacious and poison-proof larvæ, mites, and
minute beetles.
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 ordinary 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 glutinous
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; ordinary books, more or less light, will be
found quite sufficient; and few, or perhaps no other plants, require
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 perfectly 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 characters 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 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 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 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 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 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 transferred 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 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, 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 38. Specimens showing the gills, rings, and stages
of growth.]
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Section cut through Agaricus.]
[Illustration: Fig. 40.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Agaric placed to catch spores.]
It is necessary to prepare the woody specimens in a different manner.
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 described 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
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, they
should all 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
understood by reference to the diagram, Fig. 42. If this plan is
adopted, there will be no waste space, and the boxes will stand evenly
upon a sideboard or against a wall.
[Illustration: Fig. 42. Cabinet for Fungi.]
Before the specimens are transferred to the herbarium 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 larvæ, &c.,
introduced, I presume, since the plants were put away. A solution of
corrosive sublimate in pyroligneous naphtha, carefully washed over the
specimens, has been recommended; but the ordinary poison is oil of
turpentine, 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 containing 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 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 considerably 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 decimals 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 poisonous: 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_) it causes a cold sensation at the back of
the ears, and swelling of the throat; at others (as in _Marasmius
caulicinalis_), the taste proves to be intensely bitter; some are
so fiery (as in _Lactarius turpis_, _blennius_, and _acris_), that
the smallest piece placed upon the tongue resembles the contact of a
red-hot poker. Often, when I have been out botanizing with young men
and amateurs, when a dubious _Russula_ 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 resemble stinking fish (as
_Agaricus cucumis_); one, mice (as _A. incanus_); another, camphor,
whilst _Marasmius 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 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
constantly visit the forests, with all my collecting paraphernalia; 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 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 undescribed _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 vagrant; 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 shots from the proprietor; the said
trespasser meanwhile 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. Ofttimes one gets warned
that the plants are "deadly pisin"; but collectors are usually looked
upon as harmless lunatics, a climax in this direction generally being
reached if a gentleman in search of _Ascoboli_ and the dung-borne
_Pezizæ_, 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 materials are
indispensable: without these nothing whatever 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 knowledge. 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.
In conclusion, I 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
throughout 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 perennial fountain of delight and admiration for that
Supreme Wisdom which reigns over universal nature."
XIII.
LICHENS.
By the Rev. Jas. Crombie, F.L.S., etc.
Much as it is to be regretted, it cannot be questioned that of those
who have devoted themselves to the study of botany, lichenists 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 flowering 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 conspicuous 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 themselves 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 uninteresting class
of plants, and consequently undeserving of serious study. So far from
this, they are in various 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,--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 phænogamic, 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
requires minute research and microscopical examination. 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 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
preservation. 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 distributed, 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 woods and
forests, on peaty soil of bare moorlands, and on stone fences in
upland 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 indispensable
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 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 breaking 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 individual 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 pocket-lens 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 discrimination 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 fructification. 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 characteristics 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, however, 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 and chisel in
such a way as to obtain neat specimens of saxicole species--a matter
of importance with respect to their subsequent mounting. As to the
best season for collecting, I need scarcely remind the reader that
lichens are perennial plants, remarkable 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 whatever, and
occupying but little time. We shall suppose that the collector has
returned from a successful expedition, with his vasculum or haversack
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 applications 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, they often crumble into dust in the herbarium. To
prevent this, M. Norman, of Trömsoe, 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 character of the under surface of the
thallus is frequently of great importance, at least in foliaceous
and fruticulose plants, a portion of this, not necessarily detached,
should be turned over, for facility of inspection, 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 afterwards 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. Section of _Physcia parietina_.
_a._ Paraphyses. _b._ Asci with spores. _c._ Hypothecium. _d._ Section
of apothecium. _e._ Spore.]
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 unquestionably, 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 purposes a good microscope, with
1/4-inch object-glass, is absolutely indispensable to the student.
The examination 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 moistening the apothecium with water, and then, with a
dissecting-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 then placing it under the microscope, a view
will be obtained of the asci, spores, paraphyses, hypothecium, &c.,
each of which may afterwards be insulated and examined more minutely
in detail. Take, for example, the well-known beautiful yellow lichen
(_Physcia 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 examined, when the nature of
the sterigmata and spermatia will be apparent. By cutting across the
thallus of the above species, we can perceive even by the naked eye
that it consists of three different layers, which when microscopically
examined present the appearance shown in the above figure.
[Illustration: Fig. 44. Section of _Physcia parietina_.
_a._ Cortical stratum. _b._ Gonidic stratum. _c._ Medullary stratum.]
But in addition to this microscopical examination, it is also requisite
to observe the 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 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 formulæ for the preparation of these reagents are: for
iodine, iodine, gr. j; iodide of potash, gr. iij, distilled water, 1/2
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.
XIV.
SEAWEEDS.
By W. H. Grattann.
In some articles published in 'Science-Gossip' a few years ago, I
gave some directions for collecting and preserving Marine Algæ, or
seaweeds, and although, I think, it will be difficult to simplify those
directions, or even to add much that would be really serviceable to
young beginners in this delightful 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 Algæ, 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 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 information concerning Marine Algæ 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 algæ,
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'
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 'Phycologia 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 importance 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 present available for, a
single line beyond what may be practically serviceable to my youthful
readers; 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 collecting 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 perfection 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 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 Rhodosperms--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 decompose before it can be mounted. This is
especially the case with all the soft gelatinous red plants, such as
the Callithamnia, and all the Gloiocladiæ, 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 _Sporochnaceæ_, 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 Bradbury 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 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 generally 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 rewashing 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 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 penknife, 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 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, to 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 flat, with the sponge. Delicate species may be
left to drain for a few minutes, while the operator is arranging 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.
Care should be observed in subjecting plants to pressure, which, in the
first instance, should be sufficient 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 Fuci or common rock-weeds, I never place
seaweeds in _fresh_ water: with these, especially _Fucus serratus_,
_F. nodosus_, _F. vesiculosus_, and _F. canaliculatus_, 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, Red, 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 they
require the utmost care during pressure, otherwise they adhere to the
calico and break off in fragments 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
Chlorosperms, or green plants, there are the various species of Codium,
young plants of which only are manageable 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, and allowed to shrink for some hours ere calico blotters and
pressure be applied. These difficulties are much more numerous among
the Rhodosperms, or red seaweeds, experience only teaching the best
method of treatment. I will, however, mention the names of some very
troublesome plants, the fronds of which, if subjected to pressure too
soon, burst and discharge their carmine contents; not only presenting
an unsightly appearance, but destroying the specimen. These are
_Griffithsia corallina_, _Dudresnaia coccinea_, _Naccaria Wigghii_, all
the _Chylocladia_, and the rare _Gloiosiphonia_, as well 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 Rhodosperms 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 Sphærococcus; and in the latter, all
the calcareous Algæ, especially the well-known _Corallina officinalis_
and _Jania 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 perfectly to the
paper, and will remain so permanently.
One more difficulty must be referred to for the benefit of young
beginners, who, in mounting some of the Laminaria and that peculiar
olive weed called _Himanthalia 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 arabic.
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 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.
[Illustration: 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, 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 Tynemouth to Whitley.
Peterhead is also a good locality, the rare _Ectocarpus Mertensii_,
_Odonthalia dentata_, and _Callithamnion 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 Algæ, in which every species that
is likely to be met with by ordinary collectors is described, and every
British seaweed that is capable of illustration 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.
INDEX.
A
PAGE
Adventures of fungus hunters, 178
Advice to fungus collectors, 179
Affixing lichens, 189
Agaric placed to catch spores, 172
Agaricus cucumis, 176
---- melleus, 175
---- mucidus, 177
Agrostis stolonifera, 140
American moth-trap, 57
Ammonia for insects, 59
Anatomy of molluscs, 22
---- of vertebrates, 18
Anchomenus sexpunctatus, 71
Ants' nests for beetles, 91
Apothecia, 191
Apparatus for taking insects, 57
Arm of man, 21
Arrangement of eggs, 39
---- of fossils, 11, 13
---- of plants, 135
---- of shells, 116
Arranging grasses, 142
---- lichens, 191
Artificial beetle-traps, 87
Assiminea Grayana, 108
Attracting insects, 57
B
Beating for beetles, 89
---- for larvæ, 47
Beech, 121
Beetles, 67
---- by post, 86
----, where to find them, 86-94
Bentall's drying-paper, 141
Best season for lichens, 188
---- trees for insects, 51
Birds' eggs, 27
---- nests, 42
Bivalves, 104
Bleaching bones, 23
Blooms for attracting insects, 53
Blowing eggs, 30
Blowpipe for eggs, 31
Bog mosses, 145
Bombyces, 45
Bones, 16
---- of dog, 17
Bone-preservers' shops, 17
Books on seaweeds, 196-7, 208
Boring holes in eggs, 33
Bottle for beetles, 76
Boulders, 5
Box for carrying insects, 55
Braces for insects, 61
Breeding beetles, 68-9
Bulb-tube, 31
Bulimus acutus, 107
Butterflies and moths, 44
---- at rest, 50
Butterworts, 123
Buying eggs, 28
C
Cabinet for fungi, 173
Cabinets for insects, 66
---- for plants, 136
Cage for virgin lepidoptera, 52
Callithamnion floccosum, 208
Campanula glomerata, 129
---- rotundifolia, 130
---- uniflora, 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
---- mosses, 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
Coprophaga, where to find, 90
Corallina officinalis, 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, 164
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, 166
Drying-paper for grasses, 141
Duck's-head hammer, 7
Dudresnaia coccinea, 204
E
Economy of lichens, 184
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 hymenoptera, 96
---- of plants, 126
Flowering plants and ferns, 117
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
Gardiner's 'British Mosses', 153
Gathering lichens, 187
Gentiana 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
Grossulariaceæ, 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
Hepaticæ, 145
Herbaria, 132
Herbarium sheets, 136
Himanthalia lorea, 206
Holcus mollis, 140
How to get fungus spores, 171
How to prepare skeletons, 23
Hybernation of butterflies, 50
Hydrobia ventrosa, 108
---- similis, 108
Hymenoptera, 95
Hypothecium of lichens, 192
I
Identification of eggs, 29
Insect forceps, 83
J
Jania rubens, 205
Jungermanniaceæ, 154
K
Kew herbarium, 132
Killing hymenoptera, 97
---- insects, 58-9
---- snails, 111
L
Labelling eggs, 36
---- fossils, 11
---- specimens, 134
Labels, 135
Lactarius turpis, 176
Laminaria, 206
Land and freshwater shells, 102
Landsborough's 'British Seaweeds', 196
Lantern for catching insects, 53
Larvæ on fungi, 166
Leathsia tuberiformis, 204
Leaves of plants, 125
Lens for examining beetles, 85
Lepidodendron, 4
Lepidoptera, 44
Lichen flora of Europe, 185
Lichens, collecting of, 181
Lime (_Tilia Europoea_), 120
Liver mosses, 145
Localities for fungi, 164
---- seaweed gathering, 207
---- obtaining shells, 106-110
London Catalogue, 129
Luck in capturing beetles, 70
Lycopods, 145
M
Maceration of specimens, 24
McIvor's 'Hepaticæ Britannicæ', 153
Mantell's, Dr., Works, 3
Marasmius caulicinalis, 176
---- foetidus, 176
---- impudicus, 176
Materials for beetle preserving, 80
Medals of creation, 3
Medullary stratum of lichens, 193
Melanogaster ambiguous, 165
Melanosperms, 204
Membraneous seaweeds, 205
Method of setting out insects, 61
Microscopical examination of lichens, 193
Microscopical examination of mosses, 150
Missing links, 12
Mode of securing hymenoptera, 96
Modelling slugs, &c., 114
Monoecious plants, 127
Mosses, 145
Mosses in bogs, 157
---- in fields, 156
---- on heaths, 156
---- on rocks, 157
---- on shady banks, 157
---- by streams, 157
---- by trees, 157
---- on walls, 156
---- on waste ground, 156
---- in woods, 157
Moths at rest, 50
Mounting beetles, 78
---- mosses, 152
---- plants, 131
---- seaweeds, 201
Mussel shells, 104
Mussels, how to prepare, 111
N
Naccaria Wigghii, 204
Neglect of lichens, 182
Net for beetle catching, 72-73
---- for sugaring, 55
---- for water beetles, 74
O
Obtaining caterpillars, 46
Odonthalia dentate, 208
Odour of fungi, 176
Oil-beetles, 81
Olive-coloured seaweeds, 199
Osbert Salvin, 39
Osteology, 16, 22
---- of the mammalia, 18
P
Packing eggs, 38
---- fungi, 163
---- lichens, 174
Paddle of whale, 21
Padina pavonia, 208
Page's Introductory 'Text-book', 3
Paraphyses of lichens, 192
Paper for grasses, 140
Petrology, 6
Peristomes of mosses, 155
Phallus impudicus, 165
Phillips's 'Guide to Geology', 3
Physcia parietina, 192
Pinning insects, 60
Pins for setting hymenoptera, 98
Pisidium, how to prepare, 112
Plants for herbarium, 125
Platypus hammer, 7
Poa compressa, 140
---- pratensis, 140
Poisoning fungi, 174
Pollen of plants, 127
Polyporus, 172
---- igniarius, 166
Precaution against grease, 65
Preparation of mosses, 148
Preparing shells for cabinet, 110
Preservation of fungus spores, 171
---- of lichens, 188-90
---- of mosses, 151
Preserving animals, 23
---- cocoons, 49
---- eggs for cabinet, 28
---- 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
Rearing beetles from larvæ, 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, 86
Searching for larvæ, 46
Season for collecting shells, 109
Seaweed gathering, 207
---- press, 207
Seaweeds, collecting of, 195
Section cut through agaricus, 170
Seeds of plants, 128
Setting bristle, 61
---- moths for cabinets, 62, 63
Setting out hymenoptera, 99
Skeleton of mole, 20
Skeletons of birds, 20
Skull of a crocodile, 19
Sliding stages for egg cabinets, 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 pupæ, 49
Sugaring, 54
---- drum, 56
Sweeping for beetles, 89
Sycamore, 122
T
Table for hymenoptera, 99
Thallus 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
Umbelliferæ, 134
Umbrella net, 47
Use of camphor, 66
---- of osteological specimens, 25
V
Varieties of species, 129
Varnishing eggs, 35
Vasculum for lichens, 185
W
Washing eggs, 34
Where to find caterpillars, 46
Where to find chrysalis, 49
---- ---- fungi, 160
---- ---- lichens, 184
---- ---- mosses, 147
---- ---- seaweeds, 199
---- to "sugar", 54
Woody specimens of fungus, 172
London: Printed by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place, S.W.
Transcriber's Note
Illustrations were moved to paragraph breaks. The chapter number (XIV.)
for Seaweeds was added to the title page of that chapter.
On page 155, Georginceæ was changed to Georgiaceæ.
Cover image modified from image obtained from The Internet Archive and
placed in the Public Domain.