We have been speaking so far of the things to be collected, and space will not allow us to dilate at any length upon the apparatus necessary to that end. Nor indeed is this necessary; a good-sized vasculum, with one or two smaller boxes for the pocket, in which the more delicate plants may be preserved; a strong pocket-knife or small trowel, for procuring roots, and a hooked stick wherewith to fish out water-plants, or pull down branches, are the principal things required. To anyone residing for any length of time, or even only for a few days, in a district, a "London Catalogue" is an important acquisition, in which should be marked off all the species met with; by this means the flora of the neighbourhood is ascertained at a very slight expenditure of time and trouble. It is not advisable to collect too many plants at once, or to crowd the vasculum, unless under exceptional circumstances; nor should the desire to possess rare plants tend, as is too often the case, to the neglect and exclusion of commoner ones. A careful and observant collector will frequently meet with forms which deviate more or less from the accepted type of a species. When these appear to offer any marked characters, they should be noted; and in all cases it is well to preserve any forms which, from external circumstances, have a different appearance from the normal state. The differences produced by soil and situation alone are very considerable; and though the essential characters are usually to be discerned, the interest and value of a herbarium are very much increased by a selection of examples showing the range of a species. _Campanula glomerata_ offers a good example of this. In damp meadows it is from one to two feet high, with a large spreading terminal head of blossoms, while on chalk downs it does not attain more than as many inches, with only one or two flowers; in this state it was described by Withering as a gentian, under the name of _Gentiana collina_; and the same author gives as _Campanula uniflora_ a one-flowered mountain state of the harebell (_C. rotundifolia_). The collector will also do well to keep a look-out for deviations in structure, which are often of great interest. In short, nothing should be neglected which can tend to the perfect presentment of a species in the herbarium: its utility is commensurate with its completeness. The mere collector may be satisfied with scraps of a rare plant and the absence of commoner species; but the real worker will pride himself rather upon the possession of instructive examples, which may be of assistance to himself, as well as to all those who may consult them. IX. FLOWERING PLANTS AND FERNS. By James Britten, F.L.S. PART II.