186 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF FUNGI. 



Garden, 178S, p. 92, no. 228. It is true that no description is 

 given, but there is no possibiHty, in the face of his note cited 

 above, of doubt as to what plant Curtis meant. Moreover, we have 

 in tlie British Museum specimens from Curtis's garden in 1782, to 

 which Solander has affixed both names ; and others from the original 

 Charlton locality, similarly endorsed by Edward Forster. The name 

 ventricosa dates from about 1790. Goodenough says Solander named 

 it in his MS. C. depauperata, " whom J)r. "Withering first followed" ; 

 and that name will be found in With. Bot. Arr. ed. 2, 1049 (1787), 

 where it is quoted from "Curt. Cat." The plant should therefore 

 stand as C. depauperata Curt. Cat. 92 (1783); and this name must 

 replace C. ventricosa in the next edition of the London Cataloyue. — 

 James Britten. 



W. Kent Brambles. — Mr. W. A. Shoolbred and I, last autumn, 

 found two additions to the vice-comital list, viz. Ilubus pidiescens 

 Weihe, var. subinermis Rogers, frequent about Stone Street, near 

 Ightham ; and B. adori\atm P. J. Muell., on Bitchett Common. 

 These have been agreed to as correct by Mr. Rogers. — Edward S. 

 Marshall. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Introduction to the Study of Fungi: their Orr/anor/rajihij, Classijication, 

 and Distribution, for the Use of Collectors. By M. C. Cooke, 

 M.A., LL.D., A.L.S. Pp. x, 360. London: Adam & 

 Charles Black. 



The economic importance of a knowledge of the characteristic 

 features and mode of development of the various parasitic Fungi, 

 which cause diseases among farm and garden crops and animals, 

 has often acted as a stimulus in forwarding the study of this class 

 of plants : the exquisite beauty of some of the Hymenomycetes, 

 their edibility, and even the joy of a day spent on a "fungus-foray," 

 have occasionally acted in the same way. For the satisfaction of 

 persons who have been desirous of restricting their study of Fungi 

 in these grooves, admirable treatises have been written suited to 

 their taste. However, for the more limited number of students 

 aspiring to a more complete knowledge of the main features of the 

 whole class of these plants, little has been done. Possibly the 

 constantly changing views and opinions, and the ever-increasing 

 amount of investigation regarding their morphology, development, 

 and classification, acted as a deterrent to publication of a work 

 which would almost necessarily have been out of date as soon as 

 issued from the press. Although among the forty thousand species 

 of Fungi a very large number still occupy the " lumber-room " and 

 await further research before our knowledge of them is satisfactory, 

 the energetic work of specialists during the last ten or fifteen years 

 has cleared away much darkness, and made it possible to lay down 

 broad outlines in regard to the structure, affinities, and other 

 matters connected with this large section of the vegetable kingdom. 



