5 
tion and plate of Schwzgrichen’s supplement, he saw had 8 
teeth, united in pairs, and a calyptra free from hairs, so he called 
it O. stelatum, but-described it with a simple peristome. As the 
cilia are often lacking in old capsules this would be easily ex- 
plained. It will be seen that his description of O. strangulatum 
called for 16 teeth and a hairy calyptra. ; 
In the Jaeger Herbarium I find an autograph specimen from 
Miiller, collected by T. Boll at Cambridge, Mass., labelled O. 
strangulatum, var. stellatum, Brid. These specimens were ex- 
amined and prove to be like O. strangulatum Sull. in every par- 
ticular except the absence of cilia. The capsules are old and 
urceolate, and the calyptras are without hairs. 
Of course, if it were proven that O. ste/latum Brid. antedates 
O. strangulatum Sull. it would also antedate O. Braunii Br. & Sch. 
by eleven years, for according to Dr. Venturi (Musc. Gall. 182, 
1887) “« L’O. strangulatum Sull. de ’ Amerique du Nord, publié par — 
M. Austin, dans le Musci Appalachiani y correspond parfaitement, 
de sorte quc je ne doute pas de son identité avec /’O. Braunit.” 
I have sent specimens to Berlin and asked Dr. Paul Hennings 
to compare Bridel’s O. ste//atum with Boll’s specimens and with O. 
Porteri, as well as O. strangulatum Sull. 
Miiller in the Synopsis Muscorum 1: 702 cites O. strangulatum 
with Schwaegrichen’s description and Bridel’s habitat «In arbori- 
bus Muhlenberg primus legit.” He cites O. stel/atum Brid. as a 
synonym. 
Venturi in the Muscologia Gallica (part vi. 171, 1887) says _ 
that QO. stellatum Brid. communicated by Schrader, from North 5 
America, is allied to O. Jastigiatum, and not to O. strangulatum s 
Sull., where it has been referred, but that the specimens are too 
imperfect to be properly recognized. This would seem to indi- 
cate that he had seen the type. At any rate as O. strangulatum — 
* Sull. is a very common species in the Eastern States, and O. fasti- 
Statum has only been collected in two localities around Lake 
Superior as far as we now know, therefore it seems most likely _ 
that the alliance indicated by Bridel himself is the correct one. — 
The examination of the stomata alone would determine this, and 
_ they may be seen on any old capsules, for, O. fastigiai “me 
etic. stomata and 0. strangulatum Sull. has i immersed. 
