PROPERTIES OF CRYPTOGAMIC PLANTS. 5 



Tlie ability to prepare, and the value of, treatises devoted to 

 the medicinal properties of productions which contribute so ma- 

 terially to the fine arts, and to the resources of the physician, 

 must keep pace,^j'«7Yj!?«.55i^, with the results of the examination 

 by living investigators into their natural habits. May we not 

 claim, too, that the existence of the former gives additional inter- 

 est to the latter also ? 



Had we not the "Musci Alleghaniensis " of Sullivant, the 

 "Lichenes Am. Septent. Exsiccati," of Tuckerman, and the 

 " Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati," just published by II. W. Eave- 

 nel, of St. John's, Berkley, S. C, we should be unable to refer to 

 localities, or, indeed, have any idea of what existed around us. 

 To the able and experienced mycologist last mentioned, we are 

 indebted for many favors, — among others, for furnishing from 

 Schweinitz's "Synopsis " the localities of species growing in North 

 Carolina ; from Tuckerman and Sullivant what are found in the 

 Northern and Western States ; designating, also — what he has liim- 

 self seen and studied in the State of South Carolina by a mark of 

 exclamation (!). We may express the confidence wliich may be 

 reposed in the identity of species corresponding to those in the 

 possession of Mr. Ilavenel, as we know that, in addition to his own 

 excellent observation, they have passed under the eye of the best 

 naturalists in Europe. 



We have also recently received the " Nereis Boreali-Ameri- 

 cana:" or Contributions to the History of the Marine Algee 

 of North America. By W. II. Harvey, M. D. (Part 1st em- 

 bracing the Melanospermese), being one of the Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Knowledge. Tliis also has enabled us to obtain locali- 

 ties for individuals of this class. 



We beg leave to refer to the following authorities, to enable 

 us to consult some of which we were forced to make direct impor- 

 tations from abroad : — 



The English Flora of Sir James Ed. Smith. Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. By 'Wil- 

 liam Jackson Hooker, LL. D., (fee. <fec., Regius Prof. Botany in the Univ. of Glasgow. 

 (The Fungi, by Rev. M. J. Berkeley, F. L. S., <fec.) London, 1836. 



A Treatise on Poisons in Relation to Med. Jurisprudence, Phys., and tlie Pract. 

 Physic. By Robert Ghristison, M. D., F. R. S. E., Prof. Mat. Med. Univ. Edinb., 1845. 

 ' An Introd. to the Nat. Syst. Botany ; or a Systematic View of the Organization, 

 Natural Affinities, and Geograph. Distrib. of the whole Vegetable Kingdom. To- 

 gether with the uses of the most important species in medicine, the arts, and rural 

 and domestic economy. By Jno. Lindley, F. R. S., A-e. First Am. Ed. With an 



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