PIDGIN LATIN. 



The recent botanical congress at Vienna, I am told, adopted a "rule" that 

 in future all descriptions of new species which will be "recognized" must be in 



We doubt if there are many mycologists, excepting perhaps those of the 

 Catholic clergy, who have a thorough, familiar knowledge of Latin. It is close 

 enough to the English so that most of us can take a Latin "diagnosis" and 

 guess pretty well. But I think most mycologists can tell all they know about 

 fungi and tell it much better in their own language than they can in Latin. We 

 recognize the utility of writing a book like Saccardo, which is a compilation 

 from all languages, in Latin, because then it becomes useful to all. But the 

 editors of such publications must be qualified, as Saccardo is, to put other lan- 

 guages into Latin. Most any one with a boyhood memory of hic-haec-hoc 

 can take an English-Latin lexicon and make out a form that will pass, but it 

 seems to us unreasonable to ask one who has the use of good, vigorous English 

 to emasculate his thoughts in bad Latin. If the next Botanical Congress wants 

 to make a "law" that might do a little good, let them make a law that all "new 

 species" must be satisfactorily illustrated. Good pictures are a universal lan- 

 guage and tell the story, and tell it better than words of any language. In these 

 days of excellent photographs and cheap photo-engraving processes, it is not 

 too much to ask that those who seek "glory" of the "new species" variety, 

 should at least be willing to go to the expense of illustrating their plant. If 

 done as the result of a "law," it might be considered as a just penalty for the 

 inflicting of "new species" on a suffering public. 



Notelets. 



THE GENUS NIDULA. Two facts are strongly illustrated by this genus. 

 First, the wide distribution of fungi ; and second, how little is known as to the 

 occurrence of "foreign" species. Only four years ago attention was first drawn 

 to this genus by Miss White of New York. We have now several collections 

 from Canada and northwest America, two from Japan, one from Australia, and 

 have just received it from T. Fetch. Ceylon. Truly it can be said as to "foreign 

 fungi" what is known is only "a little bit off the top." 



NIDULA MICROCARPA IN JAPAN. This species, which seems to replace 

 Crucibulum vulgare in our northwest section (Washington), has reached me recently 

 from K. Miyabe, Japan. Crucibulum vulgare has a general resemblance to Nidula 

 mjcrocarpa. Crucibulum has been recorded in Japan by Mr. Tanaka. We have 

 never seen it from Japan, but of course it may occur there, and it may be that 

 Nidula has been confused with it. 



CALVATIA. Mr. Rea "can not agree with C. G. Lloyd's definition of the 

 genus Calvatia, which he separates from Lycoperdon on the ground that the 

 peridium breaks up in its upper portion and has pedicellate spores." If that is 

 my definition of the genus Calvatia I can not blame Mr. Rea, for I do not agree 

 with that myself, and I do not believe I ever so stated. 



A DOUBTFUL BENEFACTOR. "You are a great benefactor to mycol- 

 ogists in clearing up name muddles and trying to stop the senseless practice 

 of putting a mycologist's name at the end of each specific name. It is vanity 

 that is the curse of the mycological literature of the present day. With all 

 good wishes." Extract from a letter from E. W. S. We question the "bene- 

 factor" part, for while we hold it would be a great benefit to stop many of th| 

 evils that result from the present system, we have no idea (and have never, 

 had) that anything can be accomplished excepting in our own publication. You 

 can not stop bull fighting by appealing to the matadores. 



340 





