1878. ] 5 [Annual Meeting. 
The Cryptogamous division of the Botanical department 
‘has been enriched by the discovery of a valuable collection 
of Lichens. This was formerly the Lichen-herbarium of Dr. 
Thomas Taylor, an Ivish botanist, to whom Sir W. J. and Sir 
Joseph Hooker communicated the whole of their extensive 
collections of lichens, gathered during many exploring expe- 
ditions. Dr. Taylor published descriptions of these plants in 
the London Journal of Botany, 1844-46, and many of the 
specimens are the originals of the descriptions. In 1850 
Mr. John A. Lowell purchased the collection from Dr. Tay- 
lor’s heirs, and it formed a part of the herbarium subse- 
quently presented by him to the Society. The knowledge of 
the structure of lichens has been greatly advanced since Dr. 
Taylor’s day by the use of the microscope, and the nomen- 
clature has undergone extensive changes. This herbarium, 
thongh consisting of over a thousand species, might have re- 
mained comparatively useless to the American student had 
it not been for the voluntary services of Prof. Edward T. 
Tuckerman. He has examined and named very nearly the 
entire collection, a work which no one else in this country 
could have done, and has given it an authentic value other- 
wise unattainable. 
The work upon the Anatomical Collection has progressed 
to a point but little short of completion, and next year a final 
report will be made upon this department. A number of 
preparations have been added to this collection by the assist- 
ant, Mr. Van Vleck, and Dr. Thomas, a student in the Mu- 
seum. 
The Glen collection of microscopical slides, reported upon 
fully at the last annual meeting, has been catalogued and in- 
corporated with our collections by Miss Washburn. 
Mr. Van Vleck has revised the collection of Echinoderms, 
and we have received from the Museum of Comparative Zo- 
