PREFACE. 13 



has been largely eliminated; and with few exceptions, which 

 have been duly noted in their proper places, all the spe- 

 cies here considered have been personally handled. Every 

 year brings forth discoveries of forms new to science, or which, 

 though already known to occur in other political provinces, 

 have not been observed before within the borders of the State. 

 For this reason the work can never be regarded as fully com- 

 pleted, and must necessarily be supplemented in order to keep 

 it up to date. It is hoped that this additional material may be 

 incorporated from time to time in the form of special bulletins, 

 as appendices of the present volume. 



The fossil plants of the State will receive special elabora- 

 tion in another place. 



The general plan of treatment of the different species 

 enumerated has been to give under each a more or less com- 

 plete bibliography, by reference to which additional information 

 or good illustrations of the forms not here figured may be 

 found. In the diagnoses it has been the aim to give a rather 

 full description of some leading representative of each genus, 

 accompanied by a suitable figure; and to make the sketches of 

 the other members of the group brief and in a great measure 

 comparative. By this manner of dealing with the subject it is 

 thought that the characterizations of all the species will be 

 sufficiently ample for intelligent comprehension, and for the 

 particular uses to which the work will be put. At the same 

 time, the bulk of the report will be reduced very greatly — to one- 

 fourth, at least, of what it would otherwise have to be. The hori- 

 zon and some of the leading localities of each species are also 

 given. The matter of localization has had to be rather general, 

 allusion being made to the nearest postoffice usually, or in a 

 few instances, as when the fossil is common and the distribu- 

 tion wide, merely to the county. With the greater portion of 

 the material the exact bed, with reference to a particular sec- 

 tion, has not been made known. Both in published and in 

 manuscript lists large numbers of erroneous identifications 

 were found. For these reasons minute faunal studies could 

 not be included; nor are they desirable in a work of a general 



