1897.] The Polyphyletie Disposition of Lichens. 281 
as the lichens,” in “ anhinge,” until a better disposition is pos- 
sible. 
The lichenologists, the specialists in this branch, “have 
intuitively opposed the “ sidetracking ” of the lichens.” I men- 
tion this argument of Reinke’s merely to show the peculiar 
cogency so characteristic of his article. It would not have 
been inopportune to cite the particularly felicitous, intuitive 
opposition of lichen-specialists to the Schwendenerian theory. 
But the author, naively, states that, while he has sympathised 
with this later stand of lichenologists, it was unfortunate that 
their weapons were directed against the Schwendenerian 
theory. 
“In the form and structure of their vegetative organs, the 
lichens are closely connected with the other green, chlorophyll- 
bearing plants.” If it were worth while to discuss this ques- - 
tion, it might be readily shown that the only resemblance in 
form is a superficial one, due to parallelism, while the other 
great similarity arises from the fact that the one possesses as- 
similative power in and of itself, while the other appropriates 
that inherent in another organism. Itis useless to press this 
point, however, since it is directly dependent upon whether the 
over) is regarded as a instance of parasitism, or of “ consort- 
ism.’ 
Reinke, apparently, labors constantly under the delusion that 
those who contend for the distribution of the lichens, deny 
their polyphvlesis. Contrariwise, they were the first to postu- 
late and to establish it. All are in accord that, while the 
lichens originated from the fungi polyphyletically, this origina- 
tion occurred at comparatively few points, arid that the modi- 
fication and specialization of these phylogenetic lines took place 
after the fungus had become parasitic upon an alga. No one 
who traces the lichens back to the fungi would for an instant 
maintain that each lichen family finds its prototype among the 
fungi. But, on the other hand, one must insist that at those 
points where fungi passed into lichens, an almost perfect series 
of gradations is noted, and that phylogenetic and morphologic 
continuity are complete at these places. 
Naturally, the chief argument of the author is that the 
lichen is not a parasite, but a “consortium.” In direct con- 
