148 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [ FEBRUARY 
of a text of this sort, in special investigations will show whether errors and 
omissions are sufficiently numerous to impair the value of a book that is cer- 
tainly the fruit of monumental labor.— E. O. JORDAN. 
A volume of Saccardo’s Sylloge. 
THE ACTIVITY of cryptogamic botanists is well shown by the recent issue 
of another volume supplementing Saccardo’s great work enumerating all 
known fungi. The volume has been prepared with the assistance of Dr. P. 
Sydow, and contains descriptions of species of fungi published during the 
four years closing with 1898. It was at first thought that an annual supple-. 
mentary reference list of new species, omitting descriptions, would sufficiently 
meet the needs of working botanists, and three such lists were published in 
Hedwigia. But the great number of species constantly appearing makes 
the desirability of a volume like the present one beyond all dispute. 
The species issued during the period of four years attained very nearly 
the enormous number of five thousand. This brings the total number of 
species described in twelve volumes of the Sy//oge, two additional volumes 
being devoted to indexes, up to 47,304. . 
Next to the convenience of possessing all specific and generic descriptions 
is that of good indexes, and in these the Sylloge is not wanting. The present 
volume is supplied with a full index of species and of hosts, together with 
one of the genera and higher divisions contained in all the fourteen volumes. 
Much critical acumen has been shown in compiling the work, and many 
duplications of species or of names have been rectified. There also appeat 
descriptions of twenty-nine species not before published. 
A novel and interesting feature of the work is the tabulation for easy com: 
parison of all the genera of the Sylloge, arranged according to the complex- 
ity of structure of the spores. This part occupies sixty-two pages. 
Altogether the work is one of great value to the student of systematic 
mycology. So long as new species continue to be issued by the thousand 
yearly, botanists cannot be too grateful for helps of this kind. ; 
e volumes may be obtained through book dealers, or by addressing the 
senior author at Padua, Italy. —J.C.A 
NOTES FOR STUDENTS. 
PROFESSOR RoBeRT A. HARPERS has published the results of 
researches on cell-division in sporangia. These investigations were a natura 
4SAccARDO, P. A. and Sypow, P.: Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque os 
torum digessit, P, A. Saccardo; vol. XIV, supplementum universale Pars iv. Adyjec- 
tus est index totius operis. 8vo. pp. 1316. Patavii, 1899. 83 francs. 
SHARPER, Ropert A.: Cell-division in Sporangia and Asci. Annals of Bot-s 
13: 467. 1899. 
