xii PREFACE 



ditions the revision undertaken by Rostafinski was of a most 

 heroic sort. His work was almost a new beginning ; and while 

 in nomenclature he was inclined to follow the Paris Code, yet 

 the inadequacy of the earlier descriptions often made such a 

 course impracticable. The synonymy of Rostafinski is largely 

 that of Fries, and upon this the Polish author attempts to apply 

 the law of priority. In the historical note, wzmianka Jds- 

 toryczna, accompanying the description of each specific form, 

 he generally states the reason for the nomenclature he adopts, 

 whether selected from the mass of supposed synonymy or intro- 

 duced by himself de novo. Unfortunately, Rostafinski is some- 

 times purely arbitrary in his selections. He sometimes changes 

 a specific or even generic name, otherwise correctly applied, 

 simply because in primary etymological significance the name 

 seems to him inappropriate. In such cases it is proper to 

 restore the earlier name. Nevertheless Rostafinski is still our 

 most trustworthy guide. 



Of course, where later investigations have served to obliterate 

 the once-thought patent distinctions between supposed genera 

 or species, it is proper to unite such forms under the older 

 determinable title, and this we have attempted. But wherever 

 in the present work a name has been changed, the name of the 

 earlier author will be found in brackets, followed immediately 

 by that of him who made the change, and in general, recent 

 practice, especially as expressed in the rules of the various codes, 

 has determined the puzzling questions of nomenclature. 



In justification of the use of Myxomycetes as a general title it 

 may be said that in this case prevalent usage is not inconsistent 

 with a rational application of the rules of priority. The Friesian 

 designation Myxogastres was applied by its author in 1829 to 

 the endosporous Slime-moulds as a section of Gasteromycetous 

 Fungi. Four years later Link, perceiving more clearly the 

 absolute distinctness of the group, substituted the name Myxo- 

 mycetes. In the same year Wallroth adopted the same desig- 

 nation, but strangely confused the limitations of the group he 

 named. Wallroth seems to have thought Myxomycetes a syn- 



