ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC, 227 



A Westmorland Lichen.*— J. A. Wheldon describes specimens of 

 Filophorm cereolus, which he collected at Great Langdale, covering the 

 perpendicular surface of a large rock. The spores in this specimen 

 are of a larger size than those given by Crombie for the species, and 

 the specimens seem to form a connecting link between F. cereolus 

 and F. fibula, with larger spores. 



Umbilicariaceae.f — Hue has published an account of this family, 

 in which he has made some changes. He gives lengthy descriptions 

 of two species of Dermatiscum, and arranges the genera thus : — 

 1, Omphalodium ; 2, Gharcotiae (gen. nov.) ; 3, Umbilicaria ; 4, Der- 

 matiscum ; and 5, EiitostheUa. The genus Charcotia has a thallus 

 similar to that of Umbilicaria, but the apothecia have a thalline margin. 

 There is one species, G. rufidula. He also considers that the thallus 

 of Dermatocarpon is similar to that of Umbilicaria, and removes it to 

 his genus Entosthelia. The character of the fruit, which is pyrenomy- 

 cetous. Hue considers as of secondary importance. Two new species in 

 Fannaria and Buellia are also described. 



Mycetozoa. 



(By A. LoBRAiN Smith, F.L.S.) 



Myxomycetes from South America. f — W. G. Sturgis states that 

 the number of species known from that vast continent is compara- 

 tively small. He has found it of interest, therefore, to examine and 

 report on a collection of species made by Professor Roland Thaxter 

 in Argentina and Ghile. A fairly large number are listed, and any 

 points of interest are added to them. He adds that : — " It will be 

 noted that, although the list includes several interesting species, it 

 has been unnecessary to record any new species." 



Schizophyta. 

 Schizomycetes. 



Longevity of Soil Micro-organisms under Desiccation.§ — Ward 

 Giltner and H. Virginia Langworthy, after an historical review, give 

 the results of an experimental study of soil-solutions containing a slime, 

 and its effects on the desiccation of certain bacteria, as a food material 

 or as a protective during desiccation, the species chiefly investigated 

 being Fseudomonas radicicola. It was found that during the period of 

 desiccation spore-bearers largely increase in proportion as the non- 

 spore-bearers die out. Of the latter a species which occurred most 

 numerously and showed the greatest longevity, and one of the 

 slime-formers, are described. The authors conclude that : 1. The 

 survival of non-spore-bearing bacteria in air-dry soil is due in part to 



* Lancashire Naturalist, viii. (1916) p. 343. 

 t Bull. Soc. Bot. France, Ixii. (1915) pp. 13-23. 

 i Mycologia, viii. (1916) pp. 34-41. 

 § Journ. Agric. Research, v. (1916) pp. 927-42. 



