— 4 — 
capsules partially collapse so that undoubtedly some of the spores do 
escape by the breaking of the capsule walls but that this is the main reli- 
ance of the species I do not for a moment believe. 
Prof. Goebel says that the breaking of the outer walls of the capsule of 
B. indusiata renders it easier for the raindrops to force out the spores (by 
reason of the lessened resistance of the capsule wall to the impact of the 
drops) so that he evidently believes that the peristome of Buxbaumia is func- 
tional. 
NOTES ON NOMENCLATURE IV.— THE GENUS NECKERA HEDW. 
By Elizabeth G. Britton. 
There have been three genera named for Noel J. Necker (1729-1793): 
Neckeria §copoli Int. 313. 1777 equals Capnoides (Papaveracese). 
Necker ia Hedw. Fund. 2:93. 1782 equals Neckera Hedw. (Neckeracese). 
Neckeria Ait. Gmel. Syst. 3:316. 1791. equals Pollichia (Caryophyllacese). 
The first genus named for him is not in use at present, being antedated 
by Capnoides Adans, but as there are one hundred and ten species in this 
genus, if it be divided, Neckeria of Scopoli would have precedence over 
Neckeria Hedw. Recognizing this fact Mr. S. C. Stuntz published in 1900 
a Revision of the North American Species of Neckera Hedw., taking up the 
generic name of Eleutera Beauv. (1805). This name is antedated by Rhys- 
tophylhmi Ehrh. (1780-1789) which was founded on Hypnum crispmn L. 
(1753), which in turn was based on the descriptions and illustrations given 
by Dillenius (1741) and Robert Morrison (1699), both of which are unmistaka- 
bly referable to the genus Neckera as at present understood. 
As originally founded by Hedwig (1782) his genus Neckeria was 
described simply as having a double peristome, and included Hypnum cris~ 
pum , curtipendulum , viticulosum and sericeinn which have been referred to 
Neckera , Antitrichia , Anomodon and Homalothecium. The type species is 
the same as in Rhystophyllurn , but that Hedwig did not understand the 
genus at all in its modern restricted sense is shown by his treatment of 
Neckera , in his Muscorum Frondosorum, ten years later, when he figured 
nine species which have since been referred by other authors to Pilotrich- 
ella , Pilotrichum , Pterobryum and Cylindrothecium , including four species 
of Neckera. Furthermore. .Hedwig included one species of Neckera in his 
genus Leskia (1782) which was also a mixture, including Pylaisea . A1107110- 
don, Eurhynchium and Leskea. In fact it will be found that the descriptions 
given by Morrison and Dillenius, and quoted by Linnaeus, are more lucid 
and applicable to the genus, than those given by Hedwig, and as Ehrhart's 
genus Rhystophyllurn is monotypic, being based 'on one Linnean species 
with two illustrations, and founded on a specimen issued in a set of Exsic- 
catae, there is no question as to his meaning or the application of the name, 
seeing that its derivation from two Greek words meaning Wrinkled-Leaved, 
indicates one of the most noticeable characters of the genus as limited in 
modern times. 
