ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICKOSUOFY, ETC, 313 



identified with or without a hand lens ; others require a microscope. 

 The booli is arranged to meet both classes of work. There is an 

 introduction of general information about lichens. The systematic part, 

 which includes all British lichens, consists of descriptions of families and 

 genera, with keys to the species. A. L. S. 



Mycetozoa. 



New or Rare Species of Mycetozoa. — G. Lister {Jouni. Bot., 

 1921, 69, 89-93, 1 pi.). Several new species are recorded, and along 

 with these, forms and varieties now deemed worthy of specific rank 

 are described, mostly from this country or from the Continent. A note 

 is published concerning Physarum gyrosum from Japan. In that 

 country the plasmodium changes from white to clear blue, and K. 

 Minakata has suggested that an old tradition in China that the blood 

 of a murdered victim reappears year after year as sky-blue on the spot 

 where the murder took place may be explained by a growth of the 

 Plasmodium of Fhysanmi. A new genus found by Minikata on bark 

 and lichen in Japan has been determined, and named Minikatella in 

 honour of the finder. A. Loerain Smith. 



Mycetozoa on the Midland Plateau. — W. T. Elliott {Journ. 

 Bot, 1921, 59, 19S-6). The district included in the Midland Plateau 

 embraces a radius of about fifteen miles from Birmingham as the 

 centre, including portions of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and StaflFord- 

 shire. The altitude varies from below 300 feet to just above 1,000 feet. 

 The geological character of the area receives special attention, and the 

 gathering grounds are noted. Elliott records 121 species and varieties, 

 many of them new to the district ; there are 89 for Warwickshire, 100 

 for Worcestershire, and 63 for Staffordshire. In the latter county the 

 principal collecting district was Hamstead Park. There is a wider 

 range of localities given for the other counties. The writer has marked 

 with E the Mycetozoa collected by himself : there are very few that 

 have not the letter appended. A. L. S. 



