94 



BOTANY. 



sioned by the environment that each disease 

 affords? Koch, with the members of the so- 

 called Berlin school of workers, favors the first 

 view, while the Munich school take the view 

 of Nageli, Pasteur, and others, that the latter 

 statement is the correct one. In America deep 

 interest is taken in the whole subject, and 

 aome original work has been attempted. Prof. 

 Burrill claims to have demonstrated that the 

 " pear-blight " is caused by bacteria. His views 

 are published in' "Bulletins of the Illinois State 

 Laboratory." In 1880 Dr. G. M. Sternberg 

 published a translation of Magnin's " Bacteria," 

 the best recent summary of the group. The 

 work includes an ample bibliography. In 1883 

 a second edition was issued, with many of Dr. 

 Sternberg's own experiments on yellow fever 

 and other diseases, while serving with the 

 United States National Board of Health. 



(2) Algft. In the Thallophytes above bacteria 

 there have been several important publications 

 in Europe, increasing considerably our re- 

 sources. J. G. Agardh's " Species, Genera, et 

 Ordines Algarum," in three volumes (1876), 

 purports to be a complete manual of the marine 

 flora of the world. In 1876 " Notes Algolo- 

 giques," and in 1878 " Etudes Phycologiques " 

 were published ; two magnificently illustrated 

 folio volumes by two eminent authors, Bornet 

 and Thuret. The latter volume surpasses any- 

 thing ever written on algae, in the excellence 

 of both plates and text. 



In America, the " Marine Algge of New Eng- 

 land and the Adjacent Coast," by W. G. Far- 

 low, was published in 1881. It contains over 

 200 pages, and has 15 excellent plates. It de- 

 scribes 230 species, some being new, and is a 

 thoroughly trustworthy manual for the region. 



(3) Fungi. Dr. Farlow's papers on fungi, ap- 

 pearing at intervals since 1875, and Dr. Peck's 

 reports on fungi and other plants, in the New 

 York State "Reports on Natural History," 

 have included most of the original work in this 

 field in America. These have often had an 

 economic bearing, the life-history of several 

 fungi that occasion diseases of cultivated plants 

 being worked out for the first time. Dr. Far- 

 low's " Gymnosporangia of the United States," 

 and his "Enumeration of the PeronosporeaB 

 of the United States," are important papers 

 published in 1880 and 1883. Systematic col- 

 lection and preservation of specimens always 

 marks a genuine awakening of interest in a sub- 

 ject. The "Algaa Americas Borealis Exsic- 

 cate," begun in 1877 by Farlow, Anderson, 

 and Eaton; a collection of ''North American 

 Fungi " by Ellis, and another by Ravenel and 

 Cooke, both begun in 1879, are sets of dried 

 plants mounted, correctly named, and put up in 

 book-form for subscribers. The "Fungi" have 

 been issued in parts of one hundred or more. 

 The Ellis collection has reached an aggregate 

 of 1,300 species. 



In Europe the most important work on fungi 

 has been the investigation and clearing-up of 

 the life-history of certain little-known forms. 



De Bary and Woronin's " Contributions to the 

 Morphology and Physiology of Fungi," and 

 Brefeld's " Investigations of Moulds," are two 

 series of papers published at intervals, down 

 to the present date, and are admirable illus- 

 trations of this class of work. Many similar 

 papers of value have appeared in France and 

 Germany, while in England, with the excep- 

 tion of Mr. Plowright's work on " Heteroecism 

 of the Uredinese," the work has had more of 

 a systematic character. 



(4) Lichens. The veteran lichenologist of 

 North America, Prof. Tuckerman, issued his 

 " Genera Lichenum " in 1872, and in 1882 " A 

 Synopsis of the North American Lichens Part 

 I," containing descriptions of the species of 

 three families of lichens. Each work contains 

 between 250 and 300 pages, and the name of the 

 author insures their high value. Recent addi- 

 tions to the lichenology of Europe. have been 

 voluminous indeed, but mostly poured into 

 that vexed and turbid pool, the "Schwende- 

 nerian Theory," of the algoid-fungal nature of 

 lichens. There seems to be no prospect of any 

 immediate settlement of the question. 



Work has been done on the Characesa by B. 

 D. Halstead in describing all known American 

 forms in 1879, while in the same year appeared 

 two parts of the " Characese of America," a 

 quarto work with excellent illustrations, by 

 Dr. T. F. Allen. 



Spontaneous Generation. The theory of spon- 

 taneous generation was revived by the writings 

 of Bastian from 1872 to 1877, but has received 

 thorough refutation from Prof. Tyndall's work 

 on " Floating Matter in the Air," and other es- 

 says, as Pasteur had refuted it nearly a genera- 

 tion before. A quotation from the latter sums 

 up comprehensively the truth in regard to this 

 whole question : "Man has it in his power to 

 cause parasitic diseases to disappear off the 

 surface of the globe, if, as we firmly believe, 

 the doctrine of spontaneous generation is a 

 chimera." 



Higher Cryptogamia : (1) Mosses and Liverworts. 

 In considering the higher cryptogamia (liv- 

 erworts, mosses, ferns, etc.), and the phane- 

 rogamia or flowering plants, the past decade 

 will occupy a high place in the history of sys- 

 tematic botany in America. During the past 

 year (1884) a manual of the "Hepaticaa (or 

 Liverworts) of the United States" has been 

 published by L. M. Underwood, bringing to- 

 gether the scattered literature on that subject 

 and furnishing a basis for future work. " A 

 Manual of the Mosses of Nortli America," by 

 James and Lesquereux, was also published in 

 1884. It has been long expected, and takes a 

 place long vacant by the disappearance from 

 print of Sullivant's " Mosses," published 1856. 

 It is invaluable, as it brings together the re- 

 sults of the life-long labors of Stillivant, Austin, 

 and the editors, all of them accomplished bry- 

 ologists, and may be considered as closing the 

 first era of American bryology. Future work 

 will have to be done by another generation. 



