28 ORTHOTRicHUM ANOMALUM. {January, 



the species, and I have just received from him the result of his in- 

 vestigations, conducted with his usual care and accuracy, and the 

 most strict and rigorous adhesion to facts ; and which, to my 

 mind, are perfectly satisfactory and conclusive, and will, I hope, 

 be so considered by all who really take an interest in the ques- 

 tion. In his letter, he says : " Under the article of O. saxatile 

 (Dill. Bridel), in Bridel's Bryol. Universa, vol. i. p. 275 (= O. 

 anomalum, H. and T.), described with ' peristomium simplex, den- 

 tibus sedecim per paria coadunatis, distinctis tamen, linea me- 

 dia longitudinal! exaratis, siccitate suberectis, nunquam reflexis' 

 Bridel cites Grimmia striata, var. rupestris, vel saxatilis of Hed- 

 wig's Fund. Muscor. vol. ii. p. 89, t. 7, fig. 35, ' ubi peristomiuni 

 bene sistitur, contra in Muse. Frond, t. 37, peristomio potius ad 



0. eupulatum pertinente, unde probabilis Hookeri opinio, Hed- 

 wigium has duas species utut distinctissimas commiscuisse, Hook, 

 et Tayl. Muse. Brit.' " 



The work cited is Hedwig's ^ Fundamenta Historise Naturalis 

 Muscorum,' Lipsise, 1781, 2 vols. 4to, six years before the pub- 

 lication of his ' Musci Frondosi,' where, as I suppose, he has cited 

 his Grimmia striata, var. rupestris (0. saxatile) as a synonym. 

 I did not previously advert to this fact of the Moss of Hook, and 

 Tayl. having been so given, and I am now sensible that Hedwig's 

 representation of the Moss first published under that particular 

 name of 0. anomalum, must bear that name (0. anomalum), even 

 if it be proved and admitted that the Moss published in ' Funda- 

 menta Historise ' be quite a difierent species, while Hedwig con- 

 sidered it identical with that of ' Musci Frondosi,' 2, t. 37 ; and if 

 so, then, notwithstanding Bridel's calling Hedwig's Muse. Frond. 

 Moss O. saxatile (Dillen.), that name (and not the one suggested 

 by Dr. Schimper, O. neglectum) should be borne by the Moss of 

 Hook, and Tayl. There are now obvious reasons for this change, 

 although H. and T. saw "no reason for altering the name (0. 

 anomalum), as Bridel has done, to that of 0. saxatile." I think 

 this should be stated quickly to our good friend Schimper. 



There can be no doubt that O. saxatile, Brid. Bry. Universa, 



1. 27. 5, is O. anomalum of H. and T., and is, moreover, well 

 described in that work ; so that even if Hedwig had not given it 

 the name of var. saxatilis of Grimmia striata, Bridel's name 

 ought most assuredly to be retained. That of O. neglectum is 

 scarcely apposite, for truly neither Bridel nor British bryologists 

 ever neglected this Moss.' 



