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geographers, and modern cryptogramiec botanists, it should not be in- 
ferred that “‘red snow’’ is of common occurrence in alpine regions. 
In fact, there are not a few Alaskan explorers and mountaineers who 
have never encountered this phenomenon. Mr. Samuel B. Parish, 
one of the oldest botanists in the state of California writes that al- 
though he has botanized over the greater portion of the state he has 
not had the fortune to see sphaerel/a nivalis. Myr, Frederic G. Plum- 
mer of the United States Forest Service and Geographer of the United 
States, says, ‘‘ Although this phenomenon has often been reported by 
arctic explorers and I have seen it in the alpine regions of Washington 
and Oregon, it is the first time to my knowledge that it has been seen 
by a reliable observer as far south as central California. I would be 
glad to know if there is any reliable record that ‘red snow’ has been 
found in still lower altitudes.’’ 
In the third century before Christ, Aristotle mentions ‘‘red snow”’ 
in his ‘‘Meteorologies’’; Saussure in the eighteenth century hinted 
at its true cause, Sir John Ross, in his voyage of discovery in the 
arctic regions in 1819, mentioned finding deep banks of ‘‘red snow’’ 
on the eastern shores of Baffin’s Bay extending for miles; six years 
later Parry made detailed entry in his journal of observing large 
tracts of “‘red snow’’. In fact, the hterature on the subject is quite 
extensive. Through the suggestion of Dr. Frederic V. Coville, botanist 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Marshall A. Howe, 
of the New York Botanical Gardens, prepared for this article a com- 
plete bibliography of sphaerella nivalis as follows: 
Sphaerella nivalis (Bauer) Sommerfelt, Mag. for Naturv. 4: 249-253. 1824. 
— Wille in Eng. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1°: 39. 1890. 
———Chodat, Bull, Herb. Boiss. 4: 879.889, pl. 9. f. 1-24. 1896. 
—-—Beitr. Kryptogamenfl. Schweiz 1°: 140, 1g9or. 
— Hazen, Mem. Torrey Club 6: 235-238. 1899. 
West, Brit. Freshwater Alg. 189. 1904. 
Uredo nivalis Bauer, Quart. Jour. Sci. & Arts 7: 225. Al. 6. 1819; Phil. 
Trans. 1820: 165-173. pl. 77. 1820. 
Protococcus nivalis Ag. Syst. Alg. 13. 1824; Icon. Alg. Eur. A/. 27. 1828. 
Palmella nivalis Hook. App. Parry’s Jour. Second Voyage 428. 1825. 
Coccochloris nivalis Spreng., pro parte, Syst. Veg. 4: 373. 1827. 
Coccophystum nivale Link, Handb. 3: 342. 1833. 
Flaematococcus lacustris De-Toni. pro parte, Syll. Alg. 1: 552. 1889. 
Chlamydomonas nivalis Wille, Nyt. Mag. f. Naturvidenskab 41: 147. pd. 
3S: 44, 45s pl. 4. f. 25. 1903; Eng. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. 1° 
(Nachtrage): 18. 1909. 
