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NATURE 



[Feb. g, 1888 



the desired reforms are carried out by changing the 

 constitution of the University of London, or by instituting 

 a new University, two things appear in any case to be 

 incontestable : that the open examinations conducted by 

 the existing University shall continue to be conducted by 

 an impartial authority ; and that the Colleges shall be 

 allowed to organize their work in the manner best suited 

 to promote their own efhciency. 



Sir Philip Magnus, in a letter which appeared in the 

 Times on Thursday, appears to consider the dispute as 

 one between the efficiency of " lectures " on the one hand, 

 and of " reading " on the other ; and he cites the now 

 well-known dictum of Darwin, in favour of reading, and 

 against lectures. But it would be to mis-read, in a 

 strange manner, the lesson of Darwin's life, if from it were 

 to be drawn a conclusion against the existence of 

 Universities for teaching purposes, and in favour of 

 examinations. If Darwin carried from Edinburgh a pro- 

 found dislike to unintelligent lecturing, of the epideictic 

 sort, he was at Cambridge known as " the man who 

 walks with Henslow." In Sir W. Hamilton's famous 

 analysis of the work of Universities, examination holds 

 the first place only among no less than seven " exercises " 

 by which study, in a teaching institution, can be pro- 

 moted ; the others being " disputation, repetition, written, 

 composition, the practice of teaching, conversation with 

 and interrogation of the learned, and social study." To 

 these must be added, by the student of science, the 

 practice of experiment under competent supervision. Some 

 of these appear to us of more value than examinations, 

 some of less ; but it is obvious that an institution which 

 is solely concerned with examinations does not cover the 

 whole ground of institutional aid to study ; and it is of 

 no avail, as between one institution and another, to exalt 

 the benefits of " reading," which is not peculiar to either. 

 In conclusion, we trust all parties to the controversy 

 will bear constantly in mind that degrees and examina- 

 tions, lectures and colleges, are, after all, but means to an 

 end. The end is the spread and advancement of 

 knowledge, through educational methods and research. 



MANUAL OF BRITISH DISCOMYCETES. 

 A Manual of the British Discomycetes. By William 

 Phillips, F.L.S. 8vo, 446 pages, 12 plates. International 

 Scientific Series. (London : Kegan Paul, Trench, and 

 Co., 1887.) 

 T T is by no means an uncommon misfortune to find that 

 -L text-books are not written by persons the most com- 

 petent, or with the widest experience ; hence the results 

 are very far from satisfactory, and no one expresses much 

 gratification. Now and then notable exceptions to this 

 rather general rule may be discovered, to the delight of 

 all who are interested in that special branch of science 

 to which the book is devoted, and the great edification of 

 the student. It is beyond our province to inquire why 

 the most suitable men are so seldom engaged in the 

 production of "manuals," or why the most skilful 

 manipulator, with a few months' study and much 

 " coaching," cannot compete successfully with the practical 

 hand well steadied with a twenty years' experience. It 

 will be enough to intimate that no one acquainted with 

 British Cryptogamic botany would for a moment 



hesitate to pronounce that the most suitable person 

 to undertake a manual of the Discomycetes would be 

 Mr. W. Phillips, of Shrewsbury, if practical knowledge, 

 and persistent investigation, extending over at least two 

 decades of years, are to be accepted as qualifications. 



With these preliminary observations it will be at once 

 evident that, in general terms, and as a whole, we feel 

 bound to give this little volume our heartiest com- 

 mendation ; and if, in the course of our remarks, we 

 indicate any weak places, it will be with the desire to act 

 with the tenderness of a friend, and to point out how, in 

 our conception, an admirable manual may be rendered 

 more perfect or more useful. 



No apology is needed for restricting a book like the 

 present to a small controllable group of some 600 species, 

 especially when the limits are so well defined that a 

 student may devote himself exclusively to it, with advan- 

 tage to himself, without any special acquaintance with 

 outside groups. It is generally admitted that the entire 

 British Fungi, with its thousands of described species, 

 is become too unwieldy and extensive for any ordinary 

 individual, not content to become a slave to his subject 

 and a martyr to science. The Discomycetes present 

 an admirable group, capable of isolated study ; and 

 for this purpose a careful and trustworthy manual, at a 

 moderate price, is now ready at the student's hands. 



" The subject of classification," the author says in his 

 preface, "will not fail to awaken some controversy." 

 " To adhere as closely as possible to the long-accepted 

 Friesian system has been the practice of English authors, 

 but this has been carried a little too far, owing to our 

 'insular prejudices,' and the time has come when a new 

 departure must be made." We are prepared to accept 

 this paragraph — exclusive of " insular prejudices," which 

 we cannot admit — and with it the " new departure." To 

 our mind this is a most moderate concession, and we doubt 

 not that, if controversy there should be, its direction will 

 be in favour of far greater innovation than Mr. Phillips 

 or ourselves would approve. The details of the new 

 arrangement must be subjected to closer examination and 

 the test of experience, but at present we see no reason to 

 take exception to them. We have long been of opinion 

 that some such modification of the old classification was 

 desirable. 



There is, nevertheless, one point on which we have 

 always uttered a protest, and repeat it again, since in two 

 or three instances in the present volume the error has 

 been committed. We allude to the addition to, or 

 alteration of, a generic description, and the appending of 

 the original author's name, with the word " amended " 

 after it. We protest against amended genera, be- 

 cause they are nobody's genera ; they are not the genera 

 of the original author, but a " thing of shreds and 

 patches." A genus should not be altered or amended, 

 in order to fit any subsequent species which a later author 

 may desire to incorporate. He should keep the new species 

 outside, and accommodate it in other ways, rather than 

 modify or " tinker" the work of a predecessor, and assume 

 the change to be an " amendment," whereas it may be 

 something very different, and probably would be to the 

 old author himself, if he could be resuscitated to gaze on 

 the freaks of his successors. 



As for the number of species described in this volume. 



