166 MOSCOLOGIA GALLICA. 



two former works are, it is true, not illustrated ; but that omission 

 lias now been remedied by M. Husuot. Tiiis botanist, already 

 well known as editor of the Ileoue Unjolof/iqiie, and as author of 

 numerous cryptogamic and other publications, including extensive 

 sets of exsiccati, chiefly cryptogamic, of France and of the French 

 Antilles, has during the last eleven years been diligently engaged 

 in the production of what will doubtless prove to be the most 

 enduring of his contributions to Science. In heartily congratulating 

 him upon the successful completion of his labours, one has much 

 pleasure in noting as evidence of the high esteem in which the 

 Mmcologia Gallica is held in France, that the "ouvrage" has been 

 "couroune par I'Academie des Sciences." 



The first features that one notices when glancing through the 

 book are that the descriptions are in French and printed in large 

 type, and that every species is illustrated. There is an abundance 

 of illustrations, and they were all lithographed by the author. 

 Indeed, with the exception of those of OrlJwtrichiDii and llarpidium, 

 the original drawings were all made by M. Husnot himself. A 

 figure (natural size) oi the plant is given, and the leaves, capsule, 

 peristome, leaf-tissue, &c., are sufticieutly enlarged. But, un- 

 fortunately, the degree of magnification is not stated, and this 

 I hold to be a great mistake. It would have been so easy to add 

 the necessary information by means of a number alongside each 

 figure, and the gain to the student would have been out of all 

 proportion to the small additional labour involved. As it is, I fear 

 that the young student will blunder along in uncertainty for months 

 before he happens to light upon the metigre information afforded by 

 a note on p. 253 to the effect that in the preceding genera the 

 leaves are enlarged twenty times, but that in Milium and some of 

 the following genera they are enlarged five or ten times. The 

 average length of the leaves is often mentioned in the specific 

 descriptions, and then we have a clue to the magnification of the 

 leaves in the corresponding plate. But the size of the leaf-cells 

 remains an unknown quantity. Definite information, however, in 

 this respect in case of Orthotrichtun and Harpidlum is to be found 

 on pp. 155, 367. 



M. Husnot has described 112 genera, and apparently nearly 

 700 species. Tlie precise student is recommended to ascertain for 

 himself the exact number of the latter; the mathematically-minded 

 may base a calculation upon the average number of species figured 

 on each plate, which is between five and six. The author has not 

 limited himself to the knowaa moss-tiora of France, but has included 

 those species which occur in neighbouring countries, and are likely 

 to turn up in France sooiier or later. In adopting this course he 

 has shown much wisdom, and has already been justified in case of 

 several species for which he has been able to quote French habitats 

 in his Supplement. Zygodon Stirtoni and Ulota intermedia will 

 serve as instances of this. Some of our British genera are still 

 desiderata in France, e.g. Daltonia, llookeria, Mijxirium, Oedipodiiun, 

 and Stijlustci/i7im. On the other hand, we lack such continental 

 genera as JJruchia, Vuitia, Metderia, Conotnitrium, Vharomitrium, 

 and Fabronia. 



