view of past conditions, for it is difficult to do anything with mycology 

 from a study of the literature, and not only difficult but impossible to 

 recognize American growing plants from descriptions in European 

 works. The only way they will be ever collated is by the efforts of 

 some one possessed of a practical field knowledge of the floras of both 

 countries. When this is carefully accomplished, if it ever is, I am 

 confident that very few endemic species will be found in America. 



Notwithstanding, the highest consideration is due to the workers 

 in the older school in mycology, such as Peck, Morgan and Ellis, who 

 very naturally thought they were working with an absolutely new 

 flora, and who, in that opinion, devoted their energies to the naming 

 of the specimens discovered. Although I believe they were mistaken 

 in regard to many of their species being new, it is my belief that it 

 was not all their fault, for they tried their best to identify their plants 

 from the literature at their command. In this connection, a well- 

 worn copy of Fries' Hymenomycetes Europaei that is in Albany 

 to-day, stands a mute but eloquent witness of the persistent efforts 

 of Professor Peck in endeavoring to connect and identify his speci- 

 mens with the European plants. 



And this work has not been lost; it will be many years, not during 

 this generation, before the ultimate truth will be known in regard to 

 the identity of the American species, during which time the names 

 proposed by our American mycologists will serve a useful purpose. 



While it is very difficult, and with most species it is impossible, 

 to identify a species from an isolated description, a large part of 

 Professor Peck's work has been more practical and valuable, viz. : 

 systematic accounts of the species of New York genera. We look 

 upon these monographs as the most valuable work that has been 

 done by anyone in American mycology. The larger part of the sub- 

 ject has, by the persistent study of years, been covered by Professor 

 Peck, and it is to be hoped that he will continue the same process; 

 for I believe none will disagree with me in that he is the only real field 

 worker possessed of a practical knowledge of American agarics. We 

 publish following a list of the monographs that have been issued by Pro- 

 fessor Peck and the numbers of the Reports in which they may be found : 



It will be noted that of the 47 genera of New York Agarics, Professor Peck 

 has monographed 28 and there remain but four important ones to be monographed, 

 viz.: Coprinus, Cortinarius, Marasmius, and Mycena. The remainder are 

 mostly small genera that can soon be disposed of. It is surely to be hoped that Pro- 

 fessor Peck will be able to complete the work, which will then be the basis of all 

 future work with American Agarics. 



I believe these monographs to be the most practical work that has been done 

 with American agarics, and I think we have no other publications on agarics that 

 equal them in value. It was my experience some years ago when I was working on 

 agarics that whenever I found a species in a genus Professor Peck had monographed 

 I rarely had any trouble in determining it. On the other hand, in the genera that 

 had not been monographed by Professor Peck, of the greater part of the specimens 

 I found, I could come to no satisfactory conclusions regarding them. In my opinion, 

 only monographic work has any practical value, and then only where an author 

 like Professor Peck, has a thorough field knowledge of the subject. The various 

 keys of American agarics that have been compiled by those who have principally 

 a book acquaintance with them, as well as the flood of name juggling that is now 

 going on, have little value and are not much credit to American Mycology. 



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