APPENDIX B. List of GENERA AND SPECIES OF BRACHIOPODA, OF WHICH SECTIONS HAVE BEEN Prepared for tHE MICROSCOPE. REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. Hon. DAVID MURRAY, LL. D., Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University : SIR- Since the date of my last report, specimens of one hundred and forty-two species of plants have been mounted and placed in the State Herbarium, of which sixty-eight were not previously represented therein. The specimens of the remaining species represent new forms or varieties of species before represented, or exhibit some features or characters not well shown by the older specimens. A list of the species of which specimens have been mounted is hereinafter given and marked (1). By reason of the veto, by the Governor, of the appropriation for the reimbursement of the expenses of the Botanist for the years 1880 and 1881, it was not deemed prudent by me to advance any more money to meet these expenses. I have, therefore, been obliged to devote myself to the accomplishment of such work as could be done with the materials already on hand, and I have no additions to the Herbarium by the collecting of the Botanist, to report. This interruption of the work is to be regretted since it delays its completion and thereby increases the cost. If it shall be deemed best to continue the work of supplying deficiencies in the Herbarium and of developing a knowledge of the cryptogamic botany of our State, it is desirable that either the salary of the Botanist be increased sufficiently to enable him to meet the necessary expenses out of his own pocket, or else that an appropriation for these expenses be made in advance. As usual, numerous specimens have been contributed to the Herbarium by various correspondents and other co-laborers in botany. A list of the contributors and of their respective contributions is marked (2). Some of the contributed specimens represent plants that are new to the Herbarium and have not before been reported, others are rare plants from newly-discovered localities, or specimens that exhibit some peculiar variation in the species, and for these or other reasons are worthy of notice. New stations of rare plants, remarks and observations are recorded in a section marked (3). Among the contributed specimens is a new species of edible fungus belonging to the genus Agaricus, subgenus Psalliota, and closely related to the common edible mushroom, and its near relative the horse mushroom. The mushrooms are so interesting by reason of their frequent use as an article of food, and the three species mentioned are so variable and so intimately related to each other, that in pursuance of a plan already adopted in two previous reports (in which synopses of the subgenera Amanita and Lepiota have been given), I have thought best to give a full descriptive synopsis of all our New York species of the subgenus Psalliota. In this monograph the descriptions have been revised and made more complete, the dimensions of the spores have been given and copious remarks have been added with the design of pointing out more clearly the distinguishing features of the species and of aiding in their discrimination. It is marked (4). |