278 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. [ November, 
more copious than any that had previously been examined, and from it 
he was able to identify 28 species, of which number 4 proved to be new ee 
to science. No dicotyledons are of course represented, the species being 
distributed among the various divisions as follows:  EHquisetacew, 2; 
ilices, 8; Cycadacex, 12; Cuniferx, 6. The most valuable part of the 4 
paper is the interesting comparison made between this flora and that of 
Franconia, Scandinavia, and Tong-King, India. Of the 28 species found 
in the vicinity of Hif and Tasch only 7 are peculiar. Of this number 10° 
are found in Franconia, 12 in Scandinavia, and 6 in Tong King. This 
shows that the flora of these localities, widely separated as they are ge0- 
graphically, was nearly or quite synchronous, another argument pointing 
to the wide geographical distribution of the early floras. The American 
plant-beds which furnish a flora most nearly related to that of the famous 
Franconian beds are the older mesozoic of Virginia and the so-called 
triassic of Emmons, in North Carolina. From these considerations Dr. 
Schenk decides the age of these beds to be rhetic, placing them lower, 
it will be seen, thin any of the previous investigators. The abundance 
of ferns and cycads argues for this flora a tropical temperature. Each 
species is carefully described and discussed, and in most cases fully illus- 
trated.—F. H. Know tron. 
~ 
Sylloge Fungorum omnium hue itorum. igessit P. A. Sac- 
cardo. Vo Bagh Thee Pan ceepibes auctoris; 1887- 
8°. pp. 1146. 
The fifth volume of Prof. Saccardo’s great work, Sylloge Fungorum, 
will be gladly welcomed by all students of the department of mycology 
to which it pertains. Though devoted to a single family, Agaricinew,1 
is the most voluminous one of the series yet issued. Its 1146 pages COP 
tain descriptions of 69 genera and 4639 species. The original design of : 
the work, as the author remarks in the preface, being to collect and sy* 
tematically arrange published descriptions, no attempt has been made ont 
elucidate synonymy or to suppress invalitl species. Here is 4 vast an 
difficult work for some one yet to undertake. It is gratifying to note 
that the spore characters have been so generally introduced with the 
descriptions. While the main features of the Friesian system of arrang® 
ment have been followed, some notable changes have been made. 
The sections of the family are still based on spore coloration, but? 
an amplified sense. The section Leucosporse has been made to include 
Hygrophorus, Lactarius, Russula, etc.; also, such genera of tough maF 
cescent species as Marasmius, Lenzites, Lentinus, etc., though th 
i aces. The third 
ae Melanosporse, includes the Friesian Pratelli and Coprinaril 
optinus and Bolbitius, thus reducing by one the old sections. 
The subgenera of the vast genus Agaricus have been raised 1 it 
