BESSEY: MYCOLOGY 237 



and the various languages were not serious barriers, to be sure of the identifi- 

 cation of a fungus. After consulting with various other mycologists, and witli 

 their encouragement and assistance, Saccardo entered (1882) upon the noted 

 series of volumes entitled Sylloge Fungorum. In this magnum opus he attempted 

 to bring together in systematic order all the published descriptions of fungi. 

 Each description was in Latin and in a standard form, with the essential char- 

 acters, including measurements, locality where found, etc. The work was planned 

 to reach completion with Volume 8, which appeared in 1889, but the immense 

 number of new species described in the meantime made it necessary to publish 

 supplementary volumes. In the preparation of these later volumes, especially, 

 he was assisted by various other mycologists, including his son-in-law, Alessan- 

 dro Trotter; his son, Domenico Saccardo; Giovanni Battista Tra verso, Paul Sy- 

 dow, and others. The last volume to appear (in 1931) was Volume 25, which 

 brought up to date, as well as the disruption of World "War I and succeeding 

 events permitted, all descriptions of fungi through 1920. It should be noted 

 that the appearance of Volumes 22 to 25 was made possible in part by the active 

 cooperation of Dr. W. G. Farlow, who interested various individuals and so- 

 cieties in America in making available a considerable sum of money, to which 

 Dr. P'arlow contributed. Since 1931, when Volume 25 finally appeared, the eco- 

 nomic and political conditions have been such that it does not seem probable 

 that further volumes will appear, at least not for many years. 



The consequence of the publication of the first and succeeding volumes of 

 the Sylloge Fungorum was a tremendous upsurge in the description of new 

 species whose authors had hesitated to describe them for fear of adding new 

 names to species already described. Now it became possible for an investigator 

 working far from an extensive library to venture to describe new fungi if his 

 volumes of the Sylloge did not contain their descriptions. It must be admitted 

 that not all mycologists were as modest as indicated above and that some of 

 these kept rushing into print with "new species," regardless of the Sylloge. 



Because mycologists should at least know the names of new species and 

 genera described since 1920 (i.e., after the publication of the last volume of 

 the Sylloge) the Commonwealth Mycological Institute at Kew, England, has 

 published, under the title Index of Fungi, lists of all such new species and gen- 

 era or combinations from the year 1940 on. They have also collaborated in mak- 

 ing available similar lists, prepared by Franz Petrak, for 1929 and 1932 to 1939. 

 He is now working on material to fill in all the years from 1920 to 1940. Al- 

 though these lists do not contain the descri])tions of these new fungi, they cite 

 the place of publication so that mycologists may avoid duplication of names as 

 well as know where to look for new species in genera in which they are interested. 



Saccardo is most widely known through the Sylloge Fungorum, but he was 

 also the author of more than 140 lesser mycological contributions, including 14 

 numbers of Fungi veneti novi vel critici, from 1873 to 1882, and many numbers 

 of miscellaneous contributions. His sporological systems of the Fungi Imperfecti 

 (1880) and of the Pyrenomycetes (1876) exhibit the foundations upon which 

 he based his classification of these groups. 



Aside from Saccardo and his collaborators in the preparation of the Sylloge 

 there are many other Italians who .stand high in tlieir profession. Augusto Na- 

 poleone Berlese is best known for his Icones Fungorum (1884^1905), but is the 



