Introduction to the study of fungi : their organography, classification and distribution, for the use of collectors / by M.C. Cooke.

Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introduction to the study of fungi : their organography, classification and distribution, for the use of collectors / by M.C. Cooke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Stem of Angelica, Eumex, or other herbaceous plant. For the minute species the pocket lens will consequently be in requisition, but minute and exhaustive research amongst dead vegetable matter, in damp situations, is almost certain to be well rewarded. We have possibly passed over, in this brief generalisation, small and interesting subsidiary groups, which are technically included under the larger ones, to which attention might have been profitably directed. If we were to advise a young collector as to the course he should pursue with the greatest profit and interest to himself, it would be, that, after making himself generally acquainted with the characteristics of the primary groups, as we have indicated them, he should select for himself a compact family of moderate size, and devote himself to that group alone until he is famihar with all the details; after this course of practical education, he mio-ht with advantage widen his field of operation and extend his^ patron- age to other groups. By concentration of his thoughts and energies he will be the better able to cope with the difficulties and master the details, of a comparatively small group than by attacking a large one. There are several of such groups available—as, for instance, the Uredines, the Ustilagines, the Myxomycetes, the Gastromycetes, or even the Hyphomycetes In whatever direction his inclination may lead him the student wm find peculiarities, and adaptations of methods of exammation and study, applicable to the special objects of his research. In none will he be able to proceed far without the use of the microscope, and we would strongly urge upon him the necessity of cultivating the power of the hand in making sketches and drawings, either with or without the use 01 the camera lucida, or some form of substitute. Accurate drawmgs, made to scale, of reproductive bodies, structural details, modes of development, and other minutiae will always prove a source of satisfaction in the future, and a help towards progress. ^ Finally, we would urge also upon the young and inex- since the knowledge so obtained is liable to become super- ficial and empirical; but, on the contrary, to examine for