SECTION GANODERMUS. 



The result is a mess of about 3,000 names of Polyporei mostly compiled into 

 vSaccardo to date, and no one can tell anything whatever as to their identity 

 from what has been written about them. The only way to learn the names 

 is to hunt them up in the museums where they are preserved, and when they 

 are not preserved, and many of them are not, nothing will ever be known about 

 them. This hunting up process is rather difficult and ordinarily is not possible. 



Of the 3,000 "species" of Polyporei that have (mostly) been scraped 

 up into Saccardo I doubt if one-fourth of them represent anything of value, 

 and it is more trouble to learn which are of value than the subject is worth. 

 If I had spent the same time and work on something useful, that I have work- 

 ing over these old puzzles, I do not doubt that a great deal more good could 

 have been accomplished. But with me it has been a recreation and a pleasure 

 that the subject would probably not have yielded had it been exploited in an 

 intelligent manner, and had anything definite been known about it. 



There are about 700 alleged species (names) that are supposed to be stipitate 

 and considered in this pamphlet. Of these I have seen about 500 authentic 

 specimens, and of those seen 225 impress me as being good species and 

 having merit and 58 others have been retained as having some possible 

 value. The others I have seen to the number of about 215 chiefly reflect I 

 believe the lack of knowledge or judgment on the part of the authors. In 

 addition there are 65 stipitate species (dead) carried in our literature of 

 which no authentic material can be found. Nothing will ever be really known 

 about any of them, though it is the fashion nowadays for tourists to make 

 running visits to the various museums and come home and tell just as big 

 yarns about those that do not exist as they tell about those that do. As long 

 as they can arrange a lot of Latin names in a row and give the dates, it seems 

 to be immaterial whether there is any truth in the arrangement or not. There 

 are 105 alleged species marked in this pamphlet unknown (to me) that 

 do not exist in any of the principal museums. They may be found in some 

 out of the way museum or private collection, though I doubt if they are worth 

 the trouble to look them up. Still I presume they have the same possible value 

 as those that are in the museums as they are all a very uncertain quantity. 



The species of fungi are relatively few and widely distributed, a fact that 

 is becoming more firmly fixed every day. What constitutes a species, however, 

 can not be defined by words. It is only a matter of experience and individual 

 opinions. The question of variation which is a large factor in the truth of the 

 problem is hardly taken into account at all by the promoters of "new species." 

 And it is a question of course in which there is room for many differences 

 of opinion. 



In the following lists of synonyms we have given our opinions of the 

 specimens we have seen. We do not do it with the idea that it will settle the 

 questions in any way, for that is impossible. "Science" nowadays consists in 

 raking over these old "synonyms" and arranging them chronologically, and we 

 suppose this process will be continued to the end of time. A "new species" 

 is like a spot of ink. It may not have the slightest merit or value, and may be 

 based solely on the fact that its author was not informed on his subject, but 

 there is no way to ever get rid of it. 



albo-cinctus, Congo, Patouillard. Unknown to me. Seems to have the 

 stipe attachment of fornicatus. 



argillaceus, Cuba, Murrill. Unknown. 



asperulatus, Philippines, Murrill. Unknown. 



avcllaneus, Central America, Murrill. Unknown. 



coffeatus, West Indies, Berkeley. Type is a few fragments from which 

 nothing can be learned. 



Currani, Philippines, Murrill. Unknown. 



declivis, Pacific Island, Kalchbrenner. Unknown to me, but the description 

 reads like fornicatus. 



flaviporus, West Indies, Murrill. Unknown. 



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