— i6 — 



CURRENT BRYOLOQICAL LITERATURE. 



Species of European and North American Bryineae. 



By Nils Conrad Kindberg. 



This work was published by P. M. Sahlstroems at Linkoping, Sweden, 

 n 1896, and an attempt is made to use English throughout, since the work 

 was designed to aid the moss students of both continents. There are three 

 parts. The first, paged separately from 1-40, treats the " Genera — syn- 

 optically disposed." The second and third parts are paged continuously 

 from 1-410, and take up the "Species — synoptically described." In the 

 preface to this second part the author states his purpose briefly thus: 



" The present treatise is an attempt to revise and compare all hitherto 

 known species and subspecies of Bryineae, found in Europe and North 



America About 1,600 species and 340 subspecies are described . . . ." 



And this he has attempted to accomplished by re-describing all species 

 of which he was able to secure typical material, surely a heroic effort. 

 Necessarily, most of the so-called descriptions are but skeletons of diagnos- 

 tic sketches. And with so vast a number of species to be passed in review 

 by one man, single handed, it would have been a miracle if errors had not 

 crept in. 



To use the author's own words in setting forth his effort: "I have 

 therefore not described selected specimens in all their parts, but generally 

 omitted such characters as evidently are too variable. When some 

 species are critical or hitherto not well known, I have tried to propose all 

 their necessary distinctive characters. To facilitate the determination of 

 sterile specimens, so often occurring, I have accurately described the areola- 

 tion of the leaves and the common habit of the vegetals." But accuracy 

 in the strict sense, in such a bryological attempt, of such magnitude, is 

 at best difficult to attain. In critical cases it will therefore not do to rely 

 upon these brief characterizations. 



The author's method of citing authorities, if method it can be called, dis- 

 regards all present usage. Of bracket authorities he is innocent. One 

 illustration will suffice: Tetr aphis peltucida (L.) Hedw., or Georgia pellu- 

 cida (L.) Rabenh.,he writes simply Georgia pellucida L. It is hardly worth 

 while to point out other irregularities in this direction. Suffice it to say that 

 the author seems out of joint with his contemporary colleagues, on nomen- 

 clature certainly; in a measure also in his views on diagnosing new species, 

 many of which have been compelled to seek refuge under familiar names. 



In spite of these drawbacks, the venerable author, a voluminous, 

 enthusiastic and earnest worker on mosses, has rendered a considerable 

 - service to Bryology in the production -of his Bryineae, which cannot but be 

 of the greatest service, as a reference book, to cautious workers on both 

 continents who know enough not to rely too implicitly on its pages. 



. J. M. HOLZINGER. 



