Review. 399 



larvae, and Mr. B. Morley showed Crambiis piiiellits, Sciaphila siinuDia and 

 Cerosto))ia sequella for Skclmanthorpe. 



At the e\'ening meeting Dr. Corbett read a most interesting paper on 

 the rare hymenopteron Meliora aparamus in Martin Beck Wood near 

 Doncaster, after which another entomological problem which has also 

 been discussed freely in the columns of The Naturalist lately, afforded 

 much interest by the advancement of the various views of the members. 



B. Morley, Skclmanthorpe. 



A Monograph of the British Lichens : Descriptive Catalogue of the 

 species in the department of Botany, Bi-itish Museum, Part i, second 

 edition, by Annie Lorrain Smith, F.L.S. Printed by order of the 

 Trustess of the British Museum, 191 8. 



Prior to 1866 the classification generally accepted by Botanists, more 

 especially by Nylander, was based mainly upon the morphology of the 

 Lichen thallus and the plants were considered as a group separate and dis- 

 tinct from all others in the vegetable kingdom. From 1866 onwards, 

 however, Schwendener and others pointed out that Lichens were dual 

 organisms composed of fungal elements, living in society with Alga?. 

 This statement developed a school of Lichenologists who saw that a new 

 classification must be adopted to coincide with such a change of view. 

 Leighton, however, still followed in his third edition of British Lichens in 

 1879 the Nylanderian system of classification (being a continuation of 

 his previous editions) ; he evidently did not accept the new conditions. In 

 1890, Dr. Wainis, of Helsingfors, published his 'Lichens of Brazil,' based 

 upon the alliance of Fungi with Algal constituents. The principle of his 

 classification with amendments has come to be accepted and universally 

 adopted by all continental and American Botanists ; Crombie, a disciple 

 of and a co-worker with Nylander, still held Nylanderian views and pub- 

 lished his ' Monograph of Lichens found in Britain, being a Descriptive 

 Catalogue of the Species in the Herbarium of the British Museum,' Part i, 

 1894. Part 2 was then believed to be so advanced that it was expected 

 to appear in 1895. Crombie died April, 1906, without the promised 

 part being issued. It being necessary to complete the work, ^liss Annie 

 Lorrain Smith undertook the task, and Part 2 was published in 191 1 under 

 the same title, but following the more scientific system. It was then 

 found necessary to complete the work by re-arranging Crombie 's Part i in 

 accordance with modern views, the result being the issue of the present 

 volume. Part i (new edition), 1918, now under review. This volume 

 contains 354 pages of descriptive matter, 10 pages of a very useful glossary, 

 41 pages of index with synonyms, and 59 full-page plates arranged as in 

 Part I. Those of us who have worked with Part 2 during the past seven 

 years felt intuitively that when Part i came to hand we should have a 

 ■couple of volumes equal to, if not surpassing, any continental Lichen Flora 

 yet issued. Though the official titles to these volumes would lead one to 

 think they only contained descriptions of such plants as are actually 

 deposited in the British Museum, yet it may safely be considered that in 

 these we possess a complete British Flora of Lichens so far as yet known. 

 We are sorry to miss many old and familiar names which have had to be 

 changed owing to the recent Botanical rules as to priority, and replaced by 

 those of previous authors. This may lead to much confusion amongst those 

 who will not close their favourite books by authors such as Leighton, Crom- 

 bie, Mudd or Nylander, the value of which now lies mainly in their useful- 

 ness as standards for reference. Miss Smith has a decided tendency to 

 the ' lumping ' of species, this perhaps being preferable to the ' splitting ' 

 process. Experience tends to strengthen our view that in no group 

 of plants is there such a wide variation amongst individuals as in Lichens, 

 yet always there is a peculiar specific fades rendering them easily recog- 

 nizable. If attention be paid to the exact wording of the various des- 



