278 University of California Publications in Botany [Vol. 6 



ones used principally for his illustrations. All the slides are, however, 

 at the present time almost worthless. Those in glycerine are unsealed, 

 and consequently suffered seriously during shipment. Those in 

 balsam were less injured, but little remains to be seen of the delicate, 

 colorless fungal tissues. It has been necessary, therefore, with nearly 

 every specimen, to make new sections; and in cases in which only a 

 small part of a type remains, the matter of securing for sectioning a 

 portion from the most desirable location without injuring the value 

 of the remainder of the plant has been a delicate one. Some of the 

 ascocarps are riddled by insect work, which is a particular disad- 

 vantage in cases of scanty material. 



Another difficulty met in working over the collection has resulted 

 from various confusing discrepancies of numbers and names. In 

 several instances, one species is discovered to have been described 

 under three or four different names ; or a plant cited in the Hypo- 

 gaeous Fungi of California as a particular species is found in a bottle 

 bearing a different label. Two young specimens were published under 

 different specific names from the mature plant, one even appearing in 

 a separate genus. Sometimes two species are cited under the same 

 number, and occasional bottles bear two numbers. The solution of 

 such difficulties is rendered more difficult by the very meagre descrip- 

 tions in the Harkness paper, and by the fact that when a plant was 

 considered identical with a previously described species, the original 

 description was quoted, generally in abridged form, and no critical 

 notes added. The collection as a whole, however, has been found to 

 be in good condition ; of some species there is ample material, and it 

 has been possible in most cases to obtain very satisfactory sections. 



In addition to the Harkness collection, the hypogaei in the her- 

 barium of the University of California have been available for study. 

 This collection, made principally by Professors "W. A. Setchell and 

 N. L. Gardner, numbers at present about four hundred and fifty speci- 

 mens, of Avhich nearly one hundred are ascomycetous. As a provision 

 against any possible accident or emergency, material of nearly every 

 species is preserved both in dried form and in alcohol. The mistake 

 was made at first of preserving the specimens in formalin, but it was 

 soon discovered that these became too soft to section. Ninety-five per 

 cent alcohol was substituted and the material so preserved retained 

 its original firmness. 



Besides the Californian species present in the University collection, 

 there are two species of Tuher from Professor Kauffman of the Uni- 



