25 
CHAPTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF 
HEPATICOLOGY.—IYV. 
By Marswatt A, Hows. 
On page 124 of the first volume of Ray’s Historia begins 
the chapter on “Lichen.” He describes eight supposed 
species here. He considers the Hepatica terrestris vulgaris 
or the “ Lichen” of the shops to be the same as the Lichen 
pileatus of Columna, and he therefore makes use of Col- 
umna’s description, inasmuch as it accords exactly with his 
own observations. But Columna’s L. pileatus was Cono- 
cephalus, and while the “ Lichen of the shops” in Ray’s 
time may have been mostly of this genus, the Hepatica fon- 
tana of J. Bauhin, which he quotes among the synonyms, 
was surely Marchantia. But under numbers two and three 
he brings in the male and female forms of Marchantia as 
distinct species—the Lichen petreus umbellatus and Lichen 
petreus stellatus of C. Bauhin—and notes that J. Bauhin 
does not distinguish between the latter and the common 
Lichen. Toward the close of the description of the stellatus, 
he says: “ However it may be concerning the Lichen 
terrestris vulgaris, whether it should be considered that of 
the stellate fruit or that of the pileate,—I am in no doubt at 
all that these two [7. e., the stellateand pileate] are indeed 
different in species.” Thus we see that Ray, recognizing 
the necessity of distinguishing between Conocephalus and 
Marchantia, which had probably been somewhat confused by 
the shop-keepers of the time, erred in not listening to those 
of his predecessors who had made approaches to the truth in 
regard to the sexes of Marchantia. Yet, it is, perhaps, what 
would be expected of a careful observer until the true sig- 
nificance of the male plant should have been clearly demon- 
strated. 
The seventh species described here is the “Lichen sive 
Hepatica lunulata, exipvdAoxapros.” Of this it is remarked: “The 
leaves are smaller and shorter than those of the Hepatica 
vulgaris of the druggists, and they are not so manifestly 
