52
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
at a glance from those which contain species or varieties not
catalogued, thus : Iris Pseudacorus from West Drayton is 13711
and from Wisley 1371.2
I keep also a book in which I enter the items with the locality
and date of collecting, but nothing more, except that each item
receives the catalogue number. As it is very necessary to avoid
crowding and confusion, and in the belief that paper is not so
valuable as time, I advise the acquisition of a book too large
rather than too small for this purpose.
There are 1760 species and 741 varieties in the 8th edition,
and making allowance for such terrible genera as Rosa, Rubus,
Hieracium and Salix, a reasonable estimate would be a total
of about 2,300 or 2,400 ; at the rate of four lines for each about
9,500 will be required in all, or 240 pages of 40 lines apiece.
The space for each species and variety should be allotted
and numbered in advance, and the names entered, too, if one's
industry can rise to the occasion, thus dispensing with the
necessity of making an index, such genera as those which I
have mentioned requiring but little attention, since the dispersal
is practically the same for all the species of each.
The entries in this book should indicate what is contained
in all four sections, so as to show at a glance all the material
contained in the whole collection, but the slightest reference to
the others, such as "See Herbarium, II. or IV.," as the case may
be, is quite sufficient. All observations and notes must be
recorded quite separately.
I will now explain how to start a collection of seeds, curating
them in these boxes, a somewhat dry subject, I fear, which I
illustrate chiefly with the Ranunculaceae, because that family
offers so much in the way of variety. I presume that the collector
has provided himself with some boxes of each kind, a catalogue,
and a record book properly spaced, so that anything that turns
up can be dealt with, and I imagine that he has returned home
with some booty, and has allowed the seeds to dry, Let the
first thing to claim his attention be the Wood Anemone. Its
genus is a small one, but while the seeds of nemorosa can be
accommodated in a small pill-box those of Pulsatilla, with their
long hygroscopic awn, cannot, but require a small white box.
In other words, it is necessary in deciding how many of the
large white boxes a genus will require to take into consideration