principle of writing the name of a man who shifts a species around to 

 another genus, instead of the name of the man who named the species, is 

 ever generally adopted, there will be no end to the abuses to which it 

 will lead. 



In the first issue of plates embracing 38 names, only three of them 

 are discredited names, viz., Ithyphallus impudicus, Spathularia clavata, 

 Amanitopsis vaginata, and each one of these has written after it the name 

 of a man who had nothing to do with the naming of the plant. 



We presume there is no ointment but what has its fly in it, and it 

 is a pity that a beautiful set of illustrations such as this should have 

 been marred by the adoption, even in three instances, of discredited names. 

 We, of course, do not feel that the author of these plates was personally 

 responsible for this, as he no doubt followed some English "authority." 

 English mycologists could be better employed. It is gratifying to note, 

 however, that two of the recent English writers, namely, Massee and 

 Swanton, have repudiated the whole business and are simply employing 

 a binomial as the name of a plant and leaving off all the personal adver- 

 tisements. In our opinion, this is a plan that should be adopted in a 

 work of this kind and is the only plan that will be of any stability. We 

 are all of us interested in plants, and all interested in seeing them have 

 proper names, but very few of us have any interest in the party who 

 named them, much less in the parties who juggle them. 



We do not know if this set of beautiful plates can be obtained by 

 purchase in the United States, but any one who feels interested in my- 

 cology would find them very useful, for they are quite characteristic and 

 most of them occur in the United States. The coloration and drawing 

 are remarkably accurate and put to shame many of the ornate illustra- 

 tions issued from this country. 



But one figure, namely Polyporus volvatus, seems a little unusual. 

 The figure has the top attached by a little curved stem. We have no 

 doubt this was the case with the plant from which this figure was drawn, 

 Taut it is probably an abnormal condition of the collection. Polyporus 

 volvatus is normally attached by a sessile base, without a stem, both in 

 this country and Japan, in most of the specimens that we have seen from 

 both countries. 



We congratulate the Bureau of Forestry of Japan on the excellent 

 work that has been done on these plates, and hope it will be followed with 

 a continuation. 



NOTE 150. Merisrea cristata. II parait exister en Europe une grande diversite 

 d'opinion en ce qui concerne 1'identite de Merisma cristata de Persoon. Puisqu'il existe 

 des types incontestahles daus 1'herbier de Persoon, quelqu'un devrait etudier ces types et 

 eclairer la verite. Bresadola le rattache ait Sebacina incrustrms et declare qu'il possede 

 basidia divise en croix et lisse, hyaline, spores. Patouillard niaintient qu'il fornie un genre 

 separe, que ses basidia ne sont pas divisf's en croix, et que le spores sont echinulate, 

 hyaline. Dernierement von Hohnel puMia son opinion que c'est un Thelephora et possede 

 des spores colores et angruleux. Quelqu'un se trompe. evidemment. Tous trois ne peuvent 

 avoir raison & la fois. J'ai vu le specimen dans 1'herbier de Persoon. mais je ne sais si 

 Patouillard ou Bresadola e*t dans 1'erreur, car 30 ne sais quel genre de spores et de 

 basidia ce specimen possede. Je sa,is cependant que von Hohusl s'est trompe car ce n'est 

 <-lairement pas un Thelephora. Von Hohnel a la reputation d'etre un bon microscopiste 

 mais il tiro des conclusions en se basnet sur des preuves tr>s insufllsantes. 



Pendant que nous traitons de re Merisma cristatn, je voudrais bien savoir si, en 

 Europe, quelqu'un connait une plante dont 1'habitat s'accorde avec le Bulliard's (T. 415, 

 f. 1) que cite Peisoon. Je n'ai jamais vu pareiUe planto dans aucun musee, et je no crois 

 pas que les types contenus dans 1'herbier de Persoon puissent se referer & ce dessin. 



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