7) 
drica and fasciculate 7richiacee are spoken of as zthallia. The six 
species of Lycogala are each described as plasmodiocarp, while the 
generic characterization begins: “Sporangia zxthallioid, grouped to- 
gether in an intricate manner, and forming a large plasmodiocarp in- 
closed in a thick, common cortex.” These terms might easily have 
been dropped if there had been no wish to preserve the distinctions 
which they imply, but no, they are again and again used, with the 
most bewildering impartiality, all three terms in one sentence de- 
scribing the same organisms. This condition is, of course, fruitful 
in peculiarities of classification and arrangement. 
It is, however, as a systematic work that this volume might be 
supposed to have its importance. As the author remarks in the 
preface, his facilities in the way of material and types were excep- 
tional, and hence the hope of a work of exceptional value was not 
unwarranted. The typographic beauty of the book increases the 
anticipated joy of using it, and the plates are the first to convey 
an idea of the delicate and curious beauty of form and color in 
this group. Fault has been found with these plates, and especially 
with the coloring, but it must be said that, as a whole, compared 
with previous publications, the plates are well calculated to sug- 
gest correct ideas of the organisms they represent. And there is 
another reason why these plates should be praised—they are 
the one redeeming feature of the book. 
It is a most uncomfortable realization that from what might 
have been a great addition to the literature of one’s favorite group 
there can come only increased confusion, and yet to say that the 
whole systematic portion of this work is entirely unreliable, and 
careless to the last degree, is the only way in which the truth can 
be told. It is the result, no doubt, of much labor, and contains a 
great and valuable supply of information; in fact, we must take it 
in spite of its defects as the only comprehensive and recent work 
on the subject; yet we can never have certainty nor even strong 
confidence in any statement, no matter how definite. The grossest 
carelessness pervades it, in the most important as well as the most 
trivial matters, so that it must be interpreted with the most care- 
ful eclecticism. : 
An amended edition is not likely to be issued, and we must 
make the best of the present one. Asa help in doing this the 
