With Plates XVII and XVnX T TNTIL recently the systematic side of Mycology has y-J received most attention in Britain, a fact which probably accounts for the absence of any specific work on Coprophilous or dung-borne Fungi, many of which, as the species of Gymnoascus, Thelebolus, Microascus, &c, on account of being the most primitive representatives of their respective groups, are perhaps more interesting from a morphological than a purely systematic standpoint. A second reason may lie in the fact that many of the species are so very minute that their presence cannot be detected in the field; in fact it is only after considerable experience that they can be seen under the most favourable conditions of illumination, and as their duration is in many instances ephemeral the only chance of success is by keeping the material upon which they grow in the laboratory, where a daily examination can be made. Even from a systematic standpoint our investigations have shown that a careful study of the Fungi growing on the dung

THE genus Cordyceps is of special interest alike to the mycologist and entomologist, on account of the species being parasitic on insects. The peculiar combination of plant and animal has attracted attention from early times, and has given origin to some remarkable ideas as to the assumed medicinal value of such unusual productions. The historical and romantic side of the subject has been dealt with quite recently by Dr. Cookel. Saccardo 2 has collected diagnoses of fifty-nine species, including three which are excluded in the present work: of these, seventeen are arranged under species imperfecte cognitae, and even in the case of many not included in the imperfectly described batch, the specific characters are too brief to ensure certainty of determination. In the majority of instances,. this imperfection

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