84 TYPE SPECIMENS IN THE ROYAL HERBARIUM, KEW. 
appear to feed upon the soft substance of the hymenophore of the 
above-named fungus. Now and again an unfortunate fly gets its 
foot fast in a cleft of the hymenium, and is unable to extricate 
itself, the result being it shortly dies, and is promptly covered by a 
growth of mycelium that springs from the interior of the fungus ; 
eventually the body of the deceased victim decreases in bulk, and 
the author considers that this is due to its having been digested 
by the fungus. Whether the death of the victim is due to poison- 
ing or simply to fatigue has unfortunately not yet been determined. 
It is admitted that the plant cannot be conceived to derive any 
great amount of nourishment from its unfortunate victims, never- 
theless small beginnings sometimes lead up to unexpected and 
important results, and the author considers that “ it is easy to see 
how such a practice, if persisted in, might develop into a highly - 
important nutritive habit.” 
Mycologists will be pleased to learn that fungi are beginning to 
turn the tables on their insect enemies, and many will no doubt 
hope that they may turn their attention to the maggots that greatly 
aid in the untimely destruction of so many individuals. 
Stronger evidence than the mere fact of the flies becoming sur- 
rounded by a weft of hyphae and diminishing in bulk will be required, 
before the insectivorous propensities of Polyporus can be considered 
as being established. 
HEPATICjE SPKUCEAN^E: AMAZONICiE ET 
ANDINjE. 
. Under the above title a fasciculus is being published, comprising 
specimens of all those hepatics described in the work “ Hepaticas 
of the Amazon and Andes f which were gathered in sufficient 
quantity for distribution ; with a few additional ones that were left 
undetermined when that work was printed. The sets contain about 
-400 species, all named, and the price is 30 shillings the hundred. 
. It is hardly necessary to observe that no such extensive collec- 
tion of Hepaticae Exsiccata} has ever been offered to the public in 
any country. The specimens are all named ; a much larger pro- 
portion than usually found in collections of this tribe are in a perfect 
state, and several of them are of extreme rarity and beauty. 
