IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 23 



ginal beauty of wild-flowered meadow and stream-washed 

 grove, now so rich in all that comes from tillage and toil, will 

 put on yet an added splendor, in that all her toil and tilth shall 

 yield to wisdom 's guidance ; forest and meadow receive each in 

 turn intelligent and approj^riate recognition; beauty become an 

 object of universal popular concern, and once again across the 

 prairie state the clarified waters of a hundred streams will 

 move in perennial freshness toward the great river and the sea. 



THE MYXOMYCETES OF THE BLACK HILLS. 



A PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 



BY THOMAS H. MACBRIDE. 



The species listed here were collected during the month of 

 August, 1897, and represent the rather hasty gathering of a 

 traveler who could not remain long enough at one place to do 

 thorough work. The number of species ought to be extended 

 to three times that here offered, and probably will be ere many 

 seasons pass. 



The Black Hills exhibit a very considerable range of summer 

 climate, remarkable when we consider the very restricted limits 

 within which such variation is displayed, a region about equal 

 to a dozen Iowa counties. The foot-hills and southern plateaus 

 are in summer excessively dry, drouth-stricken. The occa- 

 sional showers that pass seem to make no special impression, 

 the water falling at such times being almost immediately evap- 

 orated. On the other hand the central mountain peaks are 

 covered with varied, flourishing, and abundant vegetation all 

 summer long, seem to enjoy sufficient rainfall and are often 

 enveloped by mists for days together, and are undisturbed by 

 any hot, dry winds, from the southern and eastern plains such as 

 constantly sweep and vex the lower levels. The temperature 

 varies much also in different localities. At the lower levels, 

 1,000-2,000 feet, the heat by day is great, reaching 95-98^ Fahr- 

 enheit; on the higher levels, probably owing in part to more 

 abundant moisture, the temperature of the air by day seldom 

 rises above 70°, and is often much below. It is so cold in the 

 central hills that corn does not mature, and even oats and bar 

 ley during the short season fail betimes for the same reason. 



