travels and I have never met, and I think Mr. Murrill has never met, 

 a single man who takes any stock whatever in this system. I think 

 Mr. Murrill has done good work, and a part of the most valuable work 

 he has done, is that of demonstrating in a graphic manner the folly 

 and inutility of this method of changing names, and showing the con- 

 fusion that would result if any one else paid any attention to it. As 

 he has apparently abandoned "Grifola frondosa," let us hope that he 

 has abandoned them all, for he is too good a man to be hampered by 

 such foolishness. 



NEW SPECIES. 



The more specimens we receive from all portions of the world, 

 the more strongly we become convinced that fungi are plants of 

 wide distribution, and that the fungus flora of the world is practically 

 the same. Dr. Kurt Dinter, from German Southwest Africa, has just 

 sent us a fine collection of four species. Three of these, Geaster forni- 

 catus, Geaster asper, and Geaster saccatus, are absolutely the same 

 plants that grow in Europe and the United States. The other, 

 Broomeia congregata, is well known, but only from Africa. Nine- 

 tenths of the current literature of fungi consists of descriptions of sup- 

 posed "new species" of fungi. A large part of it originates, I believe, 

 only in the imagination, or inexperience, or lack of knowledge, or lack 

 of opportunities of the authors. Thus, Geaster asper was fairly well 

 illustrated by Micheli two hundred years ago. It was beautifully illus- 

 trated from England by Purton a hundred years ago, although to-day 

 it will not be found included in any English list of Geasters. It grows 

 fairly common around Paris, and has been brought into the museum 

 several times since I have been here. What does it avail to "describe" 

 it as a "new species" (Geaster campestris from the United States or 

 Geaster pseudomammosus from Europe), when neither of the authors 

 could take collections from the United States, Europe and South 

 Africa and tell one from the other? There have been one hundred 

 and twenty-seven Geasters described, and I have seen and studied 

 practically all, and I can find but forty-six possible differences on which 

 to base names. Seventeen of these are better called forms or varieties. 

 There is no use of railing about new species-making. There is no 

 one but that has more or less of a touch of the fever. We are all more 

 or less affected with the disease, not excepting the writer. It has been 

 the curse of mycology since the beginning, and is getting worse and 

 worse. It required eight volumes of Saccardo to record the accumu- 

 lation of this matter during the first ninety years of the work. It 



; required ten to include the additions during the last sixteen years. The 

 appearance of Saccardo has been a great boon to new species-making. 



j While no one can tell anything more about the plants now than he 



[could before, he can at least hunt through the indices and make new 



'names. 



Dr. Hollos, who says some very good things (and does some very 



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