316 



Mycologia 



down to the level of the gill- attachments. Altogether, the figures 

 are painted with a freshness of observation that indicates no 

 mean ability on the part of the artist who painted them. 



With the exception of Dr. Seger's aforementioned, copper- 

 engraved figures of the anthropomorphic Geaster and the queer 

 Xylaria, nothing of consequence appeared until Franciscus van 

 Sterbeeck published Jiis " Theatrum Fungorum" (1675). 



For the most part this book is a mere curiosity. Its coppei- 

 engraved, uncolored figures are copies after Clusius, Seger, and 

 others ; indeed, both the Anthropomorphus and the Xylaria of 

 Seger appear in re-engraved plates. A few are based on water- 

 color drawings of his own finds. I wish to call attention to one 

 of these, his figure of " Locellus" on PI. 15, at the letter " C" 

 (PI. 28, A in this paper). Much has been written on this figure 

 by Kickx (1842&), and by Van Bambeke (1905a, 1908). The 

 latter is inclined to regard it as a representation of the lower 

 part of the stem of Morchella crassipes. A rather long, lacu- 

 nosely-furrowed object of ovoid shape is shown. To me it 

 suggests Peck's genus Underwoodia, a most remarkable discomy- 

 cete of which E. T. Harper gave some good photographs in the 

 Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club ( 1918b. See my PI. 28, B). 



In order to establish whether the two are identical or not, one 

 would have to examine Sterbeeck's specimen for the presence of 

 the hymenial layer, but, as the specimen has been long since lost, 

 a further discussion is futile and unprofitable. Leveille (1855), 

 in his re-issue of Paulet, figures the plant in color, and calls it 

 Clathrus locellus, a name that seems to have escaped the indexers. 

 Antedating Van Bambeke, he, too, refers it to Morchella, but to 

 Morchella esculenta. Other attempts to identify Sterbeeck's 

 figures are those of Istvanffi (1894&, c, 1895&, c) and Britzelmayr 

 (1894a) . The poor quality of these engravings is to be wondered 

 at as good workmen on copper were becoming plentiful about this 

 time, the latter part of the seventeenth century. The reproduc- 

 tion of Rubens' pictures had called forth a swarm of them; Rem- 

 brandt, the master-etcher, must have exerted some influence on 

 those about him ; and Swammerdam was at work upon his marvel- 

 lous drawings of the internal anatomy of the may-fly, published 

 later by Boerhaave (i737#). 



