closely attached, even at their edges, to the substance upon
which they grow ; irregularly tumid, tartareous, about as
thick as an egg-shell, roundish at first, but soon irregular
and blunt!y-lobed and notched; their surface unpolished,
yellowish white whether wet or dry, sprinkled in varying
abundance with small eruptive clusters of coarsish white
granules; internal substance white, with a narrow green
layer near the surface. Patellulae about the size of poppyseed,
produced upon the scales, not in the interstices,
slightly elevated, often clustered ; their disk when dry
flattish, sometimes buff, but mostly of a lurid umber-brown,
of a somewhat pruinose appearance, with a paler slightly
raised margin, which early becomes wavy and irregular ;
superficial layer thin, covering a copious pale substratum,
which is faintly tinged with flesh-colour : upon the application
of moisture the disk swells much, assuming a rather
brighter hue, and the margin almost disappears. Mr. Sal-
wey describes the patellulae on the living plant as reddish
brown, and, in a clustered specimen, much resembling a
small raspberry. Some specimens have fewer of the eruptive
clustered granules than others, and bear instead of them
in some parts smooth pinkish warts, (fig. 3) very similar to
those occurring on Bceomyces roseus and B.placothallus, to
minute specimens of which last the scales of our Lichen
bear at first sight some resemblance. When these warts
fall off they leave little white pits. In Welsh specimens
there is a little yellow about the broken edges of some of
the scales, which is probably adventitious.
Unless the genus Biatora, constituted by Fries on apparently
sound principles, be adopted, the present species
must be referred to Lecidea, with its affinities Lichen qua-
dricolor, t. 1185, and Lichen glebulosus, t. 1955. So nearly
is it allied to the last-named, that it is not easy to assign
them satisfactorily distinctive characters. Yet to the naked
eye theyare not much alike, the scalesof L. glebulosus being
so minute as to appear mere granulations. The margin
of its patellulae too is even, not flexuose, and the superficial
stratum much thicker in proportion to the substance
underneath it.—W. B.