OF THE MINUTE FUNGI OF ESSEX. 33
And, now, may a caution be offered to any who are disposed to
assist in this work.
Firstly let it be remembered that work may be rendered pleasant,
but that it is not play, and it must be entered upon with the earnest-
ness of work. There is no royal road to knowledge, no smooth path
to success. It is useless to collect and collect only, or only to
collect spasmodically; a collection must be accompanied by the in-
formation essential to turning it to account.
Secondly, although it is not essential that each parasite should
be accurately determined, or even determined at all; it is essential
that the leaves be not merely "spotted leaves," but that they bear
upon them a Uredine, distinctly bursting through the cuticle, having
spores which are readily recognised by the aid of the microscope. To
collect spotted leaves, simply because they are spotted, and to
assume that they bear upon them a fungus, entails upon others the
labour of examination, is a course by no means unusual, but it is
unjustifiable in this instance, because the spores always come to the
surface. A common lens will detect them, and a microscope will
determine the species.
Finally, do not mix the specimens, so as to create confusion, but
retain each series by itself, and always collect more than one leaf
from the same plant at the same time, if more than one can be
found. When properly dried the specimens should be kept in a dry
place, or they are liable to become mouldy, and care should be taken,
especially if they are enclosed in envelopes, that they do not become
the prey of minute insects, which will either devour the leaves, or
perhaps make sad havoc amongst the spores. In such cases much
labour will have been spent in vain.
The only other group of small fungi to which your attention may
be directed, as worthy of special investigation, are the Myxogasters,
or Myxomycetes, of the forest district. This again is a small group,
of well defined limits, and being regarded by some as outside the
boundaries of legitimate fungi, may be studied independently. They
were at one time associated with the puff-balls, and considered to be
somewhat allied to them, but in modern times it is the practice to
regard them as allied to nothing, to be, in fact, a thoroughly anoma-
lous section of organized beings, with relationship (but we would rather
say analogy) to the animal kingdom on the one hand, and fungi on
the other. Whatever they may hereafter be determined to be, they
are open to and well worthy of investigation.
D