Notes and Brief Articles 
225 
Professor A. H. R. Buller in his article on “ The Fungus Lore 
of the Greeks and Romans,” reprinted from the Transactions of 
the British Mycological Society, recalls and discusses a number of 
very interesting matters connected with edible and poisonous fungi 
and the dawn of mycology proper. For example, the first known 
illustration of a fungus is said to be one of Lactarius deliciosus, 
preserved in a mural decoration at Pompeii ; the Boletus of Pliny 
and other Latin authors was really Amanita Caesarea; the Ro- 
mans obtained fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together and 
lighting tinder obtained from Pomes fomentarius ; and the stone 
fungi of the ancients were probably simple corals with radiating 
plates resembling mushroom gills. 
After discussing at some length the fungi known to the an- 
cients, the author concludes, as follows : “ We have now come to 
an end of this first chapter in the history of Mycology. We have 
seen that the Greeks and Romans were familiar with a good many 
kinds of edible and poisonous fungi, that the Romans in particular 
developed elaborate recipes for cooking the most desirable spe- 
cies, that means were taken for dealing with cases of accidental 
poisoning, and that certain fungi had been discovered to possess 
medicinal properties. On the other hand, so far as the origin 
and mode of reproduction of fungi are concerned, the ancients 
were in complete ignorance. In general, they were contented to 
accept a theory of spontaneous generation, and they never even 
suspected that fungus fruit-bodies are simply reproductive organs. 
The spore dust, except doubtless in the Puffballs, appears to have 
entirely escaped observation.” 
A Known Species of Smut on a New Host^ 
In March, 1916, Mr. Paul C. Standley collected at Fort Myers, 
Florida, a smut on Cy penis Gatesii Torr., which produces similar 
symptoms and has the same mycological characters as Cintractia 
leucoderma (Berk.) P. Henn. The smut just mentioned has been 
described as attacking several species of Rynchospora and has 
been collected in Florida on at least two of these. It is to be 
noted that Rynchospora is a genus of the Cyperaceae and there- 
fore related closely to Cyperus. 
1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 
