During my visit to Tasmania in January last, to attend the
annual meeting of the Australasian Association at Hobart, I
took such opportunities as offered themselves to make a collection
of the lichens of the island ; and hearing from Mr.
W. A. Weymouth that he had a small collection of these lowly
yet lovely plants, I was kindly permitted to look through his
gatherings, and to select some 40 specimens of such as
appeared rare and worthy of microscopic examination. The
examination of a lichen in all its parts by the aid of a microscope
is a work requiring considerable time and patience
but a still more time-consuming labour is the examination of
the multitudinous and fragmentary works on lichenology,
which must be undertaken when a species is believed to be
new to science. Every care has been taken, but should an
older and more experienced lichenologist detect errors in
my work, then " Magna est veritas et prevalebit.'
