STUDIES OF THE SCHWEINITZ COLLEC- 

 TIONS OF FUNGI— I 



SKETCH OF HIS MYCOLOGICAL WORK 



C. L. Shear and Neil E. Stevens 

 (With Plates 8 and 9) 



Introduction 



In view of the great importance of Schweinitz's mycological 

 work, it seems desirable to publish certain information which the 

 writers have accumulated and which has a direct bearing on the 

 identification and interpretation of his species, types, and speci- 

 mens. 



Schweinitz's experience and training in Europe in connection 

 with the preparation of the Fungi of Niesky (2) was of great 

 value to him in his later studies of American fungi. His corre- 

 spondence and exchange of specimens with Fries and Kunze 

 were also of great assistance to him in the identification of Amer- 

 ican species. The general lack of knowledge of the microscopic 

 characters of fungi at that period and the limitations of time and 

 facilities naturally led to many errors in identification and im- 

 perfections in description. Notwithstanding this, Schweinitz 

 must be regarded as the first great American mycologist. Some 

 idea of the extent of his mycological work may be gained from 

 the following summary : 



His three published works on American fungi (11, 12, 13) 

 contain a total of 4,491 species. Of these 1,533 were described 

 as new and 10 new genera were established. He states in the 

 index to his herbarium under date of July, 1828, that he had 

 2,800 specimens of fungi and many more were added later. 



The most complete biographical sketch of Schweinitz is that 

 by Walter R. Johnson (6), which was read before the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, May 12, 1835, and published 

 the same year. This paper is an appreciation rather than a 



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