282 W. L, Lindsay on Canadian Lichens. 



Arbor. This is the earliest authentic account of its visibility 

 which has come to my notice. The head could not have been 

 seen on Friday evening, although observations to that effect have 

 been reported. The extremity of the tail, however, must have 

 been within view for some time previous, though too faint to 

 attract notice. 



The reports current of the identity of the comet with those of 

 1264 and 1556 are without any foundation. 



ARTICLE XXI. — What to observe in Canadian Lichens. By W. 

 Lauder Lindsay, M.D., F.L.S., Neill Medallist of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, and Hon. Mem. Bot. Soc. of Canada. 

 {From Annals of the Botanical Society of Canada.) 



An account was given of the importance of Lichens in the phe- 

 nomena of nature, and of their applications to the wants of man, 

 in affording food, dyes and fodder. Specimens of many of the 

 most valuable dye species were shown, including Roccelia tinctoria 

 from Greece ; a series of Umbilicariae named by Leighton, in ac- 

 cordance with his Monograph ; Sticta pulmonaria and dye pre- 

 pared from it, from the woods around Kingston ; and an interest- 

 ing collection of Lichens made in the United States by Mr. A. 0. 

 Brodie, of the Ceylon Civil Service. The points brought before 

 the Society by Dr. Lindsay were the following : 



1. There are no plants so variable in character as the lichens ; 

 none in which it is consequently so difficult to decide what are 

 species and what are varieties. In order to a comprehensive 

 knowledge of species, it is necessary to study individuals in every 

 condition of growth and from every possible habitat. Hence the 

 commonest species and varieties become of value — the more so if 

 collected in countries comparatively unexplored botanically, for 

 lichens are no exceptions to the rule that geographical differences 

 are attended by corresponding differences in the characters of the 

 same plants. Every Canadian collector of lichens — however com- 

 mon and well known the latter may be — may therefore consider 

 himself as contributing towards a more scientific and philosophical, 

 because more comprehensive, knowledge of a very Protean, but 

 interesting, group of plants. 



2. If the collector make a point of gathering specimens of every- 

 thing he meets which belongs to the lichen family, he will run a 

 good chance of including some novelties, perhaps new species or 

 varieties. This is extremely probable in a country like Canada, 



