KERN: TAXONOMY OF THE FUNGI 67 



During the middle of the nineteenth century great contributions to the 

 knowledge of the larger fungi were made by Elias Fries. He had "not only a 

 poor opinion of the parasitic fungi but an antiquated conception of their 

 nature." In his third volume of "Systema Mycologicum" (1832) he used the 

 name Hypodermii to include the rusts, smuts, and some other fungi and 

 characterized them as having "No proper vegetative body ; sporidia originating 

 from the metamorphose of the cellular structure of living plants : an inferior 

 kind of fungi." Nevertheless the work of Fries which extended over more than 

 a half a century gave a great impetus to the study of fungi. His prestige was so 

 great that there were many who accepted his leadership. Among these may be 

 mentioned Endlicher, Leveille, Corda, Rabenhorst, Strauss, Berkeley, and 

 Cooke. Most of these authors made changes in the arrangement of the genera. 

 Corda's extensive publication (Icones Fungorum) is notable not only for its 

 contribution to the knowledge of the structure of the larger fungi but also for its 

 advances regarding hundreds of the microfungi. 



During the first three quarters of the nineteenth century new species 

 were being recognized and named from all parts of the world. The descrip- 

 tions appeared in journals, reports, and books many of which were not widely 

 circulated. It is little wonder that investigators soon found it difficult to know 

 whether or not a species under consideration was already described and 

 named. It may be well said that this condition still exists. Thus it came about 

 that species were named and renamed from several to many times. Little was 

 known of the distribution of the fungi and workers in one region had no way 

 of knowing of the probability of the existence elsewhere of the species which 

 they were studying. Conceptions of the probable cosmopolitan distribution of 

 the fungi were necessarily slow in developing. Many efforts were directed 

 toward bringing together all species known to occur in certain regions or 

 countries without attempts to determine their wider distribution. The flora- 

 type of publication became common, especially in the European countries. 

 Rabenhorst's "Kryptogamen Flora" of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 

 is a good example. Many other floras could be cited. These publications were 

 valuable but they did not solve the problem for the workers who were located 

 away from the European centers of mycological activity. 



The assertion that many mycologists actually were deterred "from describ- 

 ing supposedly new species for fear of duplication" will doubtless not meet with 

 credulity. An important step toward overcoming this situation was the plan 

 for the "Sylloge Fungorum" inaugurated by Saccardo in 1882. The first 

 volume appeared in that year. The effect was an immediate stimulation of sys- 

 tematic mycological activity. This great work developed into twenty-five 

 volumes, the last appearing in 1931. During this period mycological journals 



