Parasitic Fungi of Illinois. 149 
for the same plant asa species. Shall we now write the earliest 
varietal name as specific, and quote the first botanist as author- 
ity? The question is not whether the second writer should 
have adopted the first name; it is now a question of choice be- 
tween two names already in literature. 
The authority after a binomial appellation is clearly that of 
the one who associates the generic and specific parts of the 
name, and applies it, thus constituted, to the designated plant. 
For phenogams there seems to be little need of preserving 
with the name any further item of bibliography. The change 
of genera is not so frequent as to cause serious confusion, and 
the descriptions are ordinarily full and unmistakable. Mycol- 
ogists, however, find it important to quote the name of the 
original authority for the specific name, agreeing in this with 
the custom among zodlogical writers, especially with those who 
devote themselves to the lower and less known orders of ani- 
mals. A very considerable number of the names of fungi 
must thus be accompanied with two authorities, that for the 
original specific name occurring first in parenthesis, and that 
for the binomial whole afterward. It is true this decidedly in- 
creases the difficulty of writing and of memorizing, but the 
benefits more than counterbalance the drawbacks. Certainly 
it will not answer to quote alone that which, as above, is put 
in parenthesis, even though by the use of the parenthesis 
change of genus is indicated. The parenthetical reference is 
dropped by students of phenogams, and we should, as mycolo- 
gists, prefer this to the practice of-some botanists and z0dlo- 
gists of omitting the authority for the entire name as it exists. 
Without further discussion of this often discussed topic, 
the following may be stated as the basis of nomenclature in 
this paper. 
(1). The use of the oldest specific name known to have 
been used for the species as such. Varietal names by the older 
authors, not subsequently adopted by those raising the varie- 
ties to species, have not been herein perpetuated except in pe- 
culiar cases. When the vague descriptions of the early writers 
give no reasonable certainty of the intended application, prior- 
ity is not strained to retain the names. 
