EUROPEAN AND N. AMERICAN BRYiNEAE. Oi 



European and N. American Bryincae (Mosses) described />]./ N. C. Kind- 

 berg. Parti. LinkoepiDg, Sweden : Sablstroems Bookselling. 

 1897. 



" Subscribers are pleased to pay the sum to the publisher, when 

 they have received this first part." This assertion, printed on the 

 cover, has the appearance of a strong recommendation. Was it in- 

 tended to be taken in a literal sense? and what is "the sum"? 

 In the preface to the second portion of the book we read : — "As the 

 continuation of this treatise, ready as manuscript, depends upon a 

 sufficient number of subscribers (at least 50), the honored sub- 

 scribers are requested to inform my publishers of their wishes. 



Prize: 8 Swedish crowns or ' kronor ' (=9 shillings, 



9 reichsmark, 11 francs) for the first part, Pleurocarpous ; for the 

 whole work 20 swed. crowns. The subscribers shall obtain also my 

 ' Genera of european and northamerican Bryineae, synoptically 

 disposed. The whole edition comprises only 200 copies. All can 

 be printed before the fine of next year." From this it appears that 

 the statement on the cover is open to misinterpretation, and that the 

 pleasure of subscribers in paying the " prize " of " 20 swed. crowns " 

 has yet to be ascertained. Let us regard it in the light of a 

 pro23hecy, and politely hope that it may be adequately fulfilled. 



As a contribution to the autobiography of the author the fol- 

 lowing extract is interesting: — "The author was beginning his 

 bryological studies in Sweden already 1851 ; bryology was his 

 speciality 1879. I have made longer travels for this purpose also 

 in Norway" and other parts of Europe. " My collections have 



been augmented by contributions from many bryologists 



I wish to thank sincerely my friends and correspondents for 

 valuable assistance, especially D:r Mueller, which had the bene- 

 volence to examine the greater part of my new American species 

 (more than 200), and Prof. Macoun, having sent about 7,000 speci- 

 mens, collected in N. America in long travels during many years." 

 This multitude of new species, published in Macoun and Kindberg's 

 Catalogue of Canadian Mosses, aroused a storm of disapproval in the 

 United States five years ago. The disapproval still prevails ; some 

 of the species have been condemned as ill-founded, and as to the 

 majority judgment is suspended. In the States Prof. Kindberg is 

 branded as a spHtter of species. On this side of the Atlantic he 

 has not given us much concern; but European bryologists will now 

 have to reckon with his work, and determine how much of his 

 system they are willing to accept or reject. 



The book consists of two portions. The first, comprising forty 

 pages, contains the "Genera .... synoptically disposed"; the 

 second, 152 pages, the pleurocarpous "Species .... synoptically 

 described." The first "is an essay to define all here belonging 

 genera of Bryineae and to dispose themselves in natural families 

 with attention also to exotic genera and species. To clear their 

 natural affinity I have often found that the common habit (' habitus ') 

 of the plants indicates the place in the system ; it is also a ' criterium ' 

 not to depreciate. To state ' a priori' the vegetable organs, of which 



