530 



make this termination significant every time, it should appear no- 

 where in the system outside of family names. 



2. For the ordinal name no termination could be better than 

 that of -ales.^ Long usage as a " Cohort " name, simplicity of af- 

 fixing and pronunciation, clearness and brevity, all recommend it. 

 If used it ought to be used exclusively for orders ; it would then 

 characterize at sight the rank of the group name as the termina- 

 tion -zdae does the family in zoology. 



3. The names should as far as possible be affixed to the names 

 of representative genera or, if not, be derived from some striking 

 characteristic or feature of the group. Family names, for obvious 

 reasons, should always be of the former class. 



4. Miscellaneous group names need not be retained after their 

 usefulness in the system ceases to exist. Where an older name 

 occurs which is practically an order, in the modern sense, it is de- 

 sirable, where simplicity can be preserved, to so modify the old 

 name as to conform in termination with the new system, but the 

 rules of priority accepted for genera and species need not neces- 

 sarily apply to either family or ordinal names. It would seem 

 better to attain uniformity of usage by other means. 



As a further means of illustrating this simplicity I append the 

 ordinal groups that I am accustomed to use in presenting the rela- 

 tionships of the fungi to students. Nothing is claimed for it ex- 

 cept an adaptation of the principles above recommended to the 

 system believed to be nearest in accord with modern research.! 



* Compare the discussion of this subject, this journal, 22: 124- 129. It is only 

 fair to state that when that paper on the classification of the Archegoniates was 

 written I had not seen Engler's Syllabus der Vorlesiingen, which contains certain 

 divisions similar to those suggested in my paper and necessarily antedating it. He 

 uses the same termination -ales for orders, but not uniformly, nor exclusively for 

 groups of that rank. 



\ At present I am using the following presentation of the leading groups of Algae : 

 Class BACILLARIAE— with one order: DiATOMALES 

 Class CYAXOPHYCEAE — with 4 orders: Chroococcales, Oscillariales, 



NOSTOCALES, SCYTONEMALES. 



Class CHLOROPHYCEAE— with 6 orders: Protococcales, Conjugales, Siphon- 



ALE's, Confervales, Coleochaetales, Charales. 

 Class PHAEOPHYCEAE— with 3 orders: Phaeosporales, Dictyotales, Fu- 



CALES. 



Class RHODOPHYCEAE— with 5 orders : Bangiales, Nemalionales, Crypto 

 nemiales, Gigartinales, Rhodymeniales. 



