—28— 



Mr. J. B. Leiberg. (It is interesting to note that both these rarely fruiting spe- 

 cies bear abundant brood-bodies. — A. J. G. ) 



Many collectors of mosses have noticed a club-shaped white fungus growth 

 arising from various species of mosses. Mrs. Britton states that this is Typhula 

 vmsciiola Pers. and gives a list of localities and collectors. — A. J. G. 



Mosses with a Hand-lens, a Non-technical Handbook of the More 

 Common and More easily Recognized Mosses of the Xorth-Eastern United 

 States, by A. J. Grout, Ph. D. 



In the study of any branch of science the first steps are the most difficult, 

 require the most persistent efforts on the part of the student, and are beset with 

 the most discouragements. The recognition of these facts has in late years 

 borne its legitimate fruits in the production of a large number of elementary 

 works intended to assist beginners. Mosses with a Hand-lens is one of these, in 

 fact the only one in its special field. Its author's professional training as teacher 

 enabled him to know just how and where and when to give the needed assist- 

 ance. Beginning the subject matter with two well-arranged keys, the one based 

 mainly on structural characters, the other mainly on habitat, he proceeds to de- 

 scribe in language clear and simple and easily understood, one hundred of the 

 commoner mosses, such as are not infrequently found in the eastern parts of the 

 United States and Canada. Along with these descriptions are a large number 

 of neatly executed illustrations, which are valuable in that they show at a glance 

 the distinctive characters of the plants under consideration. Last but not least, 

 is an illustrated glossary of bryological terms. This is an important part of the 

 book, one that has evidently been prepared with considerable care, and may be 

 consulted with advantage not only by beginners and amateurs, but by profes- 

 sionals as well. 



In the prepapation of a work like Mosses with a Hand-lens, it is not an easy 

 task for the author to decide on what and how much to include. Whether the 

 usefulness of Dr. Grout's book would have been increased by the treatment of a 

 larger number of representKtive species is an open question, as is also whether 

 the student will be able from these descriptions alone, without a knowledge of 

 the minute anatomy of the plants, to make anything like satisfactory determina- 

 tions of his gatherings. In whatever ways these questions may be answered, 

 the fact remains that the descriptions and illustrations given in this work will 

 often offer a clue to the beginner that he could not obtain from any other source, 

 and by which he will be enabled, probably with the aid of an imperfect knowl- 

 edge of the characters derived from the minute anatomy as given in the man- 

 uals, to work his way to satisfactory results. — G. N. Best. 



Carl Mueller's Genera Muscorum. 



Dr. Carl Mueller died P'ebruary 9, 1899, in Halle, Germany, at the ripe age 

 of eighty years. In spite of this, death surprised this veteran bryologist in the 

 midst of intense scientific activity, and he left some valuable manuscripts unpub- 

 lished. The most important of these, his Genei-a Muscorum Frondosorum, on 

 which he worked with the greatest devotion during the closing years of his life, 



