WRM: In Fred Williams Personal View (Bulletin No.5), he comes
down rather heavilly against overspecialisation. He asserts
that a naturalist should cover a broad spectrum. How do you
react to this?
AJP: I agree up to a certain point. I think the naturalist
must have a wide interest, but - you get nowhere if you
don't specialise. You've got to have the specialists. And
it's a question of interest. If you are interested in a
subject, then you'll delve into it.
WRM: You are regarded as a specialist in the Bryophytes,
but does the whole field of natural history interest you?
AJP: Yes, the whole field still interests me, but I am a
specialist, as I belong to the Bryological Society, and
have done for a good many years and have held office there,
But I believe a general interest is a good thing. As a
matter of fact, I also belong to the Mycological Society, -
Mycology was my great interest once-upon-a-time. I took
courses in Zoology; I was very interested in the butterflies
at one time,- I've forgotten all that I knew then.
WRM: What has been the most rewarding part of your natural
history pursuits?
AJP: Finding some of the rarer liverworts and mosses. For
instance, there's a moss called Buxbaumia aphylla." When I
went to Canada, I was taken by a Bryologist to a wood in
mid Ontario where Buxbaumia was growing. Now it is
extremely uncommon in this country; previously it was found
once by Professor Ingold in Kent. It's only about an inch
high, and he was out with his students when they came across
it, - just one plant. That wanted some finding. Now, I
was up near Balmoral some years ago, and was crawling about
on the ground with two other Bryologists, and we came upon
about half-a-dozen specimens of it. That was a real thrill,
as far as I was concerned. To see that, which I had only
seen in a museum and in Canada. There are other mosses
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