BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 193 



There seem to be very few wasted words, and even fewer repetitions, thus 

 giving the whole work, a business-hke, crisp air well worth emulation 

 in other works of reference. A long, useful glossary and a very com- 

 plete index complete the volume of a little over seven hundred and 

 fifty pages. The type is of good size and clear; and with one or two 

 exceptions the illustrations arc also very clear. With so many points 

 in its favor one feels reticent about calling attention to a few points for 

 improvement in the book. However, if offered in the spirit of help- 

 fulness, and not of mere criticism, the suggestions may certainly not 

 come amiss. 



The reviewer can well understand that the present nomenclature of 

 fungi is in so turbulent a condition that no really complete nor entirely 

 accurate list of synonyms could be introduced, j^et a free use of synonyms, 

 particularly those which have been recently reduced to synonymy, 

 would aid materially in locating descriptions and in using the volume 

 as a reference work for inexperienced students. As all have experienced, 

 a short definition of a scientific word in a glossary may give little 

 information or even may give a wrong notion, so that {he method of 

 giving cross reference in the glossary to the place in the text where the 

 term is defined more completely or illustrated, would be an improve- 

 ment in any book where this device is lacking. Occasionally the cross 

 reference from text to illustration is lacking and where, as in the case 

 of Botryosporium pulchrum, a form is illustrated upon another page 

 than it is described some confusion is likely to occur. A somewhat 

 similar lack is noticed where the description under the illustration 

 fails to clearly designate to which structure a certain term applies. 

 Right here it may be said that the growing tendency to omit lettering 

 from illustrations and to substitute a sentence of description beneath, 

 may give a more artistic picture, but has led to a very vague expla- 

 nation of the part shown. In the lists of references one would like to 

 know the titles of the articles as well as the citations, which only are 

 given. While it is true that this is a systematic treatise yet something 

 more than a mere mention of the heteroecism of Sclerotinia ledi would be 

 useful; while at least a page reference under "heteroecism" in the index 

 would make the note available. Although on p. 323 we are told that 

 the three genera, Graphiola, Schinzia and Bornetma, will be found under 

 the heading "Genera of Unknown Affinity," on p. 663, only the first 

 of these three is found there, and in its description we get no intimation 

 that Graphiola has been referred to before, nor with which group it has 

 been associated. Very few slips of this nature have been observed, 



