Hepaticce of North America. 15 



Popular names have been only rarely applied to the hepat- 

 ies because of their humble and inconspicuous position in the 

 vegetable world, yet the Firciacece are sometimes known as 

 Crystalworts, the Miorhatifiacew as Liverworts, the Anflioce- 

 rotacece as Horned Liverworts, or simply Hornworts, and the 

 Jini(j('r)iiaii/(ice<t' as Scale Mosses. The old name of' the com- 

 mon McDX'hatitia pohjmoypha — Liverwort — given since it was 

 supposed to be a specific for liver troubles, because the thallus 

 bore a faint resemblance to the liver — has been latterly adopt- 

 ed for the entire order, and in a Latin form (Hepaiicce) for the 

 entire group. Thus does the language of ignorant superstition 

 become the adopted language of science. 



BIBLIOGEAPHY 



The works consulted in the preparation of tbis paper, not 

 including various general works on Botany, are given below. 

 The list is believed to contain all American works, as well as 

 papers and notes in American periodical literature. Notices of 

 any omissions in this particular would be thankfully received. 

 The only works hitherto professing to describe the American 

 species of any considerable area are those by Schweinitz (1821) 

 and Sullivant (1856). It is hoped that a critical work, fig- 

 uring the rarer American forms, may follow this introductory 

 paper in due course of time. 



Austin (Coe F. ) Characters of some new Hepaticse (mostly 

 North American) together with Notes on a few imper- 

 fectly described Species. Tn Pro. Phil. Acad., Dec. 1869 

 (Vol. — , pp. 218-234). Describes 39 new species as 

 follows: from the U. S. 24; from Sandwich Is. 9; from 

 Japan 3; from Mauritius 2; from Nepal 1. 



New Hepaticffi. In Bull. Torr. Bot. Club, Mar. 1872 



(Vol. Ill, pp. 9-18). Describes 17 new species as fol- 

 lows: from the U. S. 15; from Europe 1; from Fiji Is. 1. 



