THE BOTANISTS OF PHILADELPHIA. 31 



botanists who live within a radius of sixty miles of the 

 City of Philadelphia, the formation of a herbarium in 

 which all of the plants of the region, carefully mounted, 

 labeled and annotated, are represented, and the advance- 

 ment of botany generally. Field trips during the spring, 

 summer, and autumn months are taken to various points 

 of botanical interest, and reports are made at each succeed- 

 ing meeting of the plants collected. Its membership repre- 

 sents the active botanists of the region at the present day. 

 It has done much to advance the systematic knowledge 

 of the plants of the district. Under the auspices, and with 

 the co-operation of this organization, Dr. Ida Keller has 

 undertaken the preparation of a list of the plants found 

 within the neighborhood of Philadelphia, as represented 

 in a radius of 60 miles or less. This work will be of great 

 use to students of the local flora, and is to be highly 

 commended. 



The study of the lower forms of plant-life has been 

 almost entirely neglected by the greater number of botanists 

 mentioned in this work. In order to create an interest in the 

 fungi, especially the higher fleshy fungi, two societies have 

 been inaugurated during 1897 and 1898. One called the 

 Philadelphia Mycological Center, modeled after the Boston 

 organization, meets statedly at the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences. Topics of general interest to the members are 

 discussed, and specimens, chiefly of the edible kinds of toad- 

 stools, are presented for inspection. 



The other organization is known as the Mycological 

 Club. Its objects are essentially similar to those of the 

 first-mentioned society. A bulletin is published under the 

 auspices of this club, and excursions are taken into the sur- 



