THE TEACHINCt OF BOTANY 341 



structare with those found on the capsules of species of Poly- 

 triclunn. 



k few words are necessary on the question of the position of 

 '^ Oligotrichitm Lescurii." When making my observations, above 

 referred to, on this species, I overlooked the fact that Kindberg, 

 in his paper "The European and North American PolytrichacetB'' 

 (Rev. BryoL 1894, pp. 33, 35) had created a new genus for its 

 reception. This new genus — Bartramiopsis — is defined as follows : 

 "Leaves not lamelliferous at the back, flaccid, more or less crisped 

 when dry, long-ciliate near the sheathing base; lamella few, serrate. 

 Capsule without angles and apophysis ; teeth, lid, and calyptra 

 unknown." Kindberg curiously overlooked the fact that James, in 

 his original description (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, vi. 33 (1875) ) of 

 the moss in question as Atrichum Lescurii, says, "a loose calyptra 

 of the genus was found"; and Mitten also (Trans. Linn. Soc. 

 2nd ser. Bot. in. 191 (1891)) has described the calyptra as "small, 

 smooth, and shining." 



Kindberg gives no account of the leaf-structure. Now, as 

 mentioned above, the leaf-structure of "(9. Lescurii" agrees with 

 that found in the genus Lyellia, and the habit also quite agrees 

 with tbat of L. crispa. Lyellia as a genus is characterized by 

 the gymnostomous capsule, and the fact that the present plant 

 was originally described by James as belonghig to Atrichum, and 

 was transferred later by Mitten to Oligotrichum — both genera with 

 peristomate capsules — might lead one to suppose that there was no 

 very close affinity between "0. Lescurii" and Lyellia. On looking 

 into the matter, however, it appears otherwise. In the first place, 

 it IS to be noted that the peristome of 0. Lescurii has never been 

 described; James [l. c.) says, " peristome and operculum wanting; " 

 and Mitten, when transferring the plant to OliyotricJaun, does not 

 mention the peristome. Through the kindness of Mr. Mitten, 

 I have been able to see fruiting examples of " 0. Lescurii" from 

 Nantaizan, Japan (coll. Bisset). In the two fruiting stems sent, 

 the capsule appears to me to be truly gymnostomous, as the 

 epiphragm is attached directly to the edge of the mouth of the 

 capsule. In all characters, therefore — habit, leaf-structure, gymno- 

 stomous capsule, and glabrous calyptra — the present species agrees 

 with Lyellia, and consequently should bear the name Lyellia 

 Lescurii (James). 



THE TEACHING OF BOTANY. 



At the meeting of the British Association at Glasgow on 

 Sept. 16, the Botany and Educational Science Sections met for a 

 joint discussion on the teaching of Botany, under the chairman- 

 ship of Prof. Bayley Balfour. We extract the following account 

 of the discussion from the Standard of Sept. 17th : — 



The discussion was opened by Mr. Harold Wager, who, as one 

 of His Majesty's Inspectors of Secondary Schools, has had con- 

 siderable experience of the teaching of Science in Secondary 



