—3 
as Prof. Gray says, and also the work with which we are most familiar. It 
consists, as the title indicates, of “ Figures and Descriptions of most of those 
Mosses peculiar to Eastern North America which have not been heretofore 
figured,” and forms an imperial octavo volume with one hundred and 
twenty-nine copper plates, published in 1864. The letterpress and plates are 
simply exquisite and wholly unrivalled, and the scientific character is ack- 
nowledged to be worthy of the setting. The second volume was in course of 
preparation at the time of Mr. Sullivant’s death, but the material was found 
to be mostly in notes on herbarium sheets, etc., and the work of editing was 
undertaken by Leo Lesquereux who alone was in a position to complete it. 
This was done as a labor of love for his friend, and though pressure was 
brought to bear to have the name of Leo Lesquereux appear on the title 
pag'e, he would not consent, and it appears as the final work of Sullivant, 
though the preface acknowledged this indebtedness to Lesquereux. 
In accordance with his wishes all his bryological books and his exceed- 
ingly rich and important collections and preparations of mosses were con- 
signed to the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University with a view to their 
safe keeping and long continued usefulness. The remainder of his botani- 
cal library, his choice microscopes, and other collections went to the State 
Scientific and Agricultural College established at the time of his death at 
Columbus, and to the Starling Medical College, founded by his uncle and of 
which he was himself the senior trustee. 
Mr. Sullivant was chosen into the American Academy in 1845: received 
the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Gambier College in his- native 
State, was an associate of the principal scientific societies of this country 
and of several in Europe. His oldest botanical associates long ago enjoyed 
the pleasure of bestowing the name SULLIVANTIA OHIONIS upon a 
very rare plant, a Saxifrage, which he himself discovered in his native State 
on the secluded banks of a tributary of the river which flows by the place 
where he was born and where his remains now repose. 
SPORE DISTRIBUTION IN BUXBAUMIA. 
A. J. Grout. 
Mr. Dixon in his Handbook oL British Mosses states that Buxbaumia 
aphylla scatters its spores by the rupture of the capsule walls. Schimper in 
the Bryologia Europea states that the tube of the peristome is so narrow that 
the spores cannot pass out after the capsule dies and the peristome becomes 
twisted. 
The peristome of Buxbaumia is so perfectly developed that it has not 
seemed probable to me that it could be a useless organ, and for several 
years I have been trying to get fresh specimens just at the time of complete 
maturity and before the spores had been shed. Early last June Mr. Walter 
Gerritson sent me in some specimens which were in just the right condition 
and when the capsules were lightly tapped with a pencil the spores were 
projected as far and as freely as in Weber a sessilis. After dehiscence the 
