much practical importance to the student of fungi as is the exact lo- 

 cation of the north pole to the average tourist. Still, the later the 

 "legal" starting point the less possibility of "legal" juggling. There- 

 fore mycologists in general have reason to be thankful that Farlow and 

 Atkinson, as well as the others who voted in approval, made their date 

 no earlier. But it scarcely seems fair to our Kuntzeite friends or to 

 those who worship the sacred principles of priority to give them such 

 a hard jolt in the direction of fungi in general, and at the same time 

 except special departments, such as Uredinaceae and Myxomycetes, 

 where the door for name juggling is open back to Adam. 



Taking everything together, our "law-makers" did very well, and 

 personally we are grateful that it was no worse. 



Our botanical law-makers may be likened to a party of children at 

 play. It amuses them and does no permanent harm ( nor good, either, 

 for that matter), as botanical nomenclature is subject to the same laws 

 that govern any language, viz: the rules of use based on fact and evi- 

 dence. It is useless to try to make artificial rules to regulate the course 

 of natural laws. 



THE GENUS THELEPORUS. 



This is an unfortunate genus in more than one respect. First, 

 the name is too close to the well-known genus Thelephora, and sec- 

 ond, the genus is not of much importance, though it is carried in 



Fig. 374 

 Theleporus cietaceus (x6). 



all of our systematic works. The word "thele" means a papilla, and 

 the character of the genus is a papilla in each pore, otherwise the 

 genus is the usual genus Poria. The papillae are very small and can 

 scarcely be seen except when enlarged. We think, however, they can 

 be found in our enlarged photograph if viewed with a magnifying 

 glass. But one species of Theleporus is known, and but one collection, 

 as far as I am aware. This was from South Africa, by \Yah!berg, 

 and was named by Fries (Theleporus cretaceus) about sixty y c ars 

 ago. In a few words, it is a Poria with a papilla in each pore. The 

 color is white ; otherwise, our figure tells the whole story. 



479 



