1897] CURRENT LITERATURE 133 
new. Five new varieties also are defined and various specific reductions 
indicated. It would seem that the genus was sadly in need of revision, as 
are probably most of the Mexican and Central American genera.—J. M. C. 
MR. GEORGE MASSEE has done excellent service to mycology in his 
redescriptions of Berkeley's types of fungi.’ Berkeley's magnificent collec- 
tion was presented to Kew in 1879, and illustrates his mycological publica- 
tions from 1836 to 1885, containing over 11,000 species, among which are 
4866 types. The earlier diagnoses were brief and superficial, and not at all 
adequate for the present demands. Mr. Massee has drawn up full descrip- 
lions, with figures, of Berkeley’s types, using in every case the actual 
specimens originally employed by the author. About 115 species are thus 
described, over eighty of which belong to the genus Peziza.—J. M. C. 
In 1886 Professor Charles R. Barnes published a key to the genera of 
mosses recognized in the Manual of Lesquereux and James, which proved to 
meet a want of the bryologists. In 18go he published keys to the species of 
mosses recognized in the same work, including descriptions of those published 
since the issue of the manual. Taxonomic work among North American 
mosses since 1890 has been so very active that a new presentation of North 
American material seemed justified. Accordingly a third edition of the 
“Analytic Keys”’® has just appeared, which is intended also to stimulate the 
study of mosses during the time which must precede the publication of the 
new manual. The appendix to the Keys contains descriptions of species 
and varieties, 603 in number, published since the issue of Lesquereux and 
James’ Manual in 1884, and before January 1, 1896. It is only upon the 
massing of these descriptions that one begins to appreciate the recent rapid 
development of our knowledge of the North American moss flora. The 
_ author feels compelled to call special attention to the large number of new 
species described by Dr. N. C. Kindberg, and by Dr. C. Miiller in collabora- 
tion with Kindberg, from the Canadian collections of Mr. John Macoun, 
stating that there is good reason to believe that a majority of these are not 
well founded. In this view he seems to be sustained by other bryologists, 
and it is certainly unfortunate that such a mass of names aged bosses injected 
