Py 
Me etOLOUGICAL FJOURNAT: 
JULY, 1892. 
CONNECTING FORMS AMONG POLYPOROID FUNGL 
BY LUCIEN MARCUS UNDERWOOD. 
Read before the Indiana Academy of Science December, 1891. 
_ Asa prelude to this preliminary paper on the generic limits of the 
Polyporei, we wish to call attention to some of the anomalies in 
the pronunciation of the plural of fungus. The novice, innocent 
of classical erudition, usually essays it as /éémgi; the classically 
minded man brings it out as foon-gee, while a growing tendency. 
fathered at Harvard, fostered at Cornell, and by them distributed 
far and wide is fténgé. This last is (1) a hybrid and (2), a mon- 
_ Strosity, and should be relegated to the department of teratology 
Clearly two forms are allowable. If with our classical friends we — 
believe that some novelty must be instilled into a dying tongue, then 
the melodious (?) foongee may be used. But since English is des- 
tined to take the place formerly held by Latin as the universal lan 
guage of science, we deem it more logical as well as spies mor 
common sense to say /tg7. 
The oldest genus of this family is Boletus established by Dileias 
in 1719. In this genus Linnzeus included all the ‘‘ Pore-fungi’ 
known to him, passing over Polyporus established by Micheli i 
729’. Haller established Merulius in 1768°, and Bulliard add 
istulina in 1781. When Persoon gave his systematic survey 
the fungi in 1801', three genera were recognized. Of these he 
tablished Pedals and adopted Merulius (under which he pla 
: Cantharellus, Adans. as a sub-genus), and Boletus (under which h 
1Cat. Giss. 188. 
2Nova Plantarum Genera, 129. 
° Helv. em. 150. 
Champ. a aha: 
Synopsis Methodica Fungorum. 
