1 882.] 



Botany. 



45 



Chlorophyceae and Fungi, each including the four structural 

 forms, and the Phasophyceae some Agamse, Isogamae and Oogamae. 

 The Saccharomycetes and Myxomycetes are outlying groups, 

 respectively, of the agamic and isogamic Fungi. The following 

 diagram will serve for comparison with the preceding one : 



: (i 



n 



Gobi, after remarking upon the imppropriateness of the name 

 Thallophyta, and the difficulty of fixing upon such characters as 

 will set off distinctly the plants of this group from those of all 

 others, suggests the new name of Glceophytse, from the slimy 

 nature of most of the species. We trust that this new name will 

 not be adopted, for while there can be no exception taken to 

 Gobi's criticisms upon the use of the term Thallophyta, the real 

 difficulty lies in the attempt to combine in one great group, plants 

 which have too many structural differences. In our opinion, the 

 Thallophytes include several distinct grand divisions of the vege- 

 table kingdom, just as the Cormophytes do. Old names generally 

 live long after their usefulness has ceased, as witness Cryptogam, 

 Endogen, Exogen, and in zoology the term Invertebrata, and 

 doubtless it will be many years before we shall be rid of Thallo- 

 phyta, but certainly we should not now add another to the long 

 list of those which are to be forgotten. 



