834 
Mr. Lister has made a few attempts at novelties himself, which 
in the main are unfortunate. It is doubtful if Physarum murinum 
Lister is anything different from Fhysarum puichripes Peck, as he 
has it. Physarum calidris Lister, on his own showing should be 
called Physarum pusillum B. & C., and the pretext for not doing 
so is perfectly flimsy. At any rate Physarum nodulosum Cke. & 
Balf. has priority; it was published as Badhamia nodulosa in the 
Journal of Mycology in 1889. If Hemiarcyria stipitata Mass. is 
to be absorbed in H. c/avaza Pers., with more reason should H. 
intorta Lister be included in the same species. The definition of 
his new order Margaritaceae is illogical; in fact, the order is un- 
necessary and the genera may easily be distributed elsewhere. 
The theory of the tubules in Lycogala is questionable; but if true 
the tubules are not a capillitium traversing the zzterior of the spo- 
rangia, but only “air-spaces’’ between them, in which case Lycogala 
goes to Reticulariaceae. The placing of Chondrioderma and Dia- 
chaea in Physaraceae is awkward indeed, and willreceive the approval 
ofnoone. Hemiarcyria isa good Friesian designation much older 
than Hemitrichia. Something is said in the introduction concern- 
ing the “laws of botanical nomenclature,” but it will be seen 
that the nomenclature remains a purely personal one, and that re- 
vision of the generic and specific names in the Myxomycetes is 
still a thing greatly needed. 
We are of the opinion that Mr. Lister has shown too little re- 
spect for the labors of his predecessors and has exhibited a great 
want of consideration for the views and opinions of his contempo- 
raries. We have a lurking suspicion that he is influenced by 
some strong personal bias greatly to the discredit of many of his 
statements ; possibly it is only a yearning for notoriety. And we 
are inclined to look upon him as a narrow specialist, disqualified, 
by reason of his limited studies, for forming a proper judgment 
concerning genera and species. AF Me: 
Untersuchungen uber die Starkekorner. By Dr. Arthur Meyer: 
With 99 cuts in the text and 9g plates. Jena, 1895. 
This treatise will no doubt be welcomed by all scientific 
botanists. The author has made an earnest, conscientious effort 
to clear up some of the mysteries concerning the life history of 
the individual starch-grain. He admits that some of his conclu- 
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