THE HISTORY OF MYCOLOGY IN ESSEX. 289
Concerning Sowerby he remarks that his "figures are often
"unrivalled for character, though sometimes involved in un-
"certainty from the almost total absence of descriptive matter
"and neglect of the microscope, towards amassing the materials
"out of which the mycological system of the present day has
"been formed, it has of late years, with one or two exceptions,
"been less studied than any other branch of Cryptogamic plants.
"This has arisen, I conceive, partly from the practical difficulty
"of preserving specimens for the herbarium, partly from the
"absence of any general work, adapted to the immense advances
"which have of late years been made in the study of Mycology."
He further writes, "I am myself indebted to the liberality and
"kindness of Messrs. J. D. C. and C. E. Sowerby, for the oppor-
"tunity of an unrestricted inspection of the original specimens
"figured in their father's work, and for the loan of all the more
"minute kinds which required much study and microscopic
"examination." Berkeley afterwards became possessed of
Sowerby's drawings and presented them to the British Museum
in 1869.4 Of the specimens mentioned in the volume as being
from Essex I have noted the following additions to published
records :—
Agaricus confluens Pers. Wansted. Sow. Herb.
Agaricus galopus Pers. Hainault Forest, Oct., 1795. Sowerby.
Hydnum fuscum Pers. Wrabness, Essex, Rev. R. T. Lowe.
"The present species, with which I am acquainted only
"from specimens communicated by my friend, Mr. Lowe."
Clavaria ceranoides Pers. Sent to Mr. Sowerby by Mr. E.
Forster.
Sphaeria decipiens Dec. On bark of the hornbeam. Hainault
Forest, Sowerby.
Sphaeria floriformis Sow., is given a synonym of 5. decipiens
Dec.
"The plant of Sowerby is referred by Fries in his Index
"Alphabeticus to S. milliaria, but an inspection of original
"specimens compared with the figure which is very characteristic,
"shows clearly that it is the plant of de Candolle . . with which
"it agrees even to the peculiar matrix."
Regarding Mitrula minuta Sow. (Clavaria) Berkeley remarks
4 Sowerby's herbarium and other drawings had been purchased by the Department of Botany
in 1859.