CURRENT LITERATURE 



MINOR NOTICES 



British lichens. — The first edition of part first of this work appeared in 

 1894. .The catalogue was done by James M. Crombie, who accompHshed an 

 excellent piece of work, viewed from the standpoint of the Uchenists of his day 

 and the generation preceding him. Part second was to have appeared shortly 

 from the pen of Crombie, but his death prevented. Later the task was 

 continued by Annie Lorrain Smith, and the second part appeared in 1911, 

 following in part the methods of the author of the first part, on which it was an 

 improvement as a whole. In 1918 the revision of part first by Miss Smith^ 

 appeared. 



The volume contains an introduction dealing with the nature of the lichen 

 and a catalogue of the British lichens (pp. 520). The work of the original 

 author has been thoroughly revised, and the volume contains much new 

 material and marked changes in classification. There are usable keys, and the 

 descriptions have dropped most of the antiquated phraseology of the lichenist 

 of the recent past. They will be more acceptable, therefore, to the botanist of 

 today, who necessarily has been somewhat appalled at the technical language 

 of the lichenist. The 71 plates represent a large amount of work and will be 

 found helpful to the student. Unfortunately, the author's conception of the 

 nature of the lichen is wrong and therefore imfortunate in a work of first rank. 

 In America, at least, and we believe in Europe as well, there has been a marked 

 recent trend of opinion among students of lower plants to the eft'ect that the 

 dual hypothesis regarding lichens is untenable, and that the lichen must be a 

 fungus after all, parasitic on an alga. However, the introduction on the nature 

 of the hchen is a very minor feature of the work, and the publication of this 

 revision gives us from the pen of one person a complete, creditable, and very 

 useful catalogue of the British lichens. Although the catalogue in two volumes 

 deals primarily with the lichens of a limited area, the work will be found useful 

 in the study of the lichens of America and other regions. — Bruce Fixk. 



American gall insects. — Felt^ has published an excellent and usable key 

 to the American gall insects. It is arranged with reference to the host plants 

 on which the galls occur and will be of great value to every botanist who has 



' Smith, Annie Lorrain, A monograph of the British lichens. Vol. I. Svo. pp. 

 xxiv+520. pis. 71. figs. II. The British Museum. 1918. 



^ Felt, E. P., Key to American gall insects. N.Y, State Museum Bull. 200. 

 pp. 310. ph. 16. 191 7. 



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