On the Luminosity and Mass Function in NGC 2362

The luminosity function of part of the young Galactic cluster NGC 2362 obtained recently by Wilner and Lada (1991) is studied, and it is concluded that it is consistent with a solar neighborhood mass function. This result disagrees with the conclusion drawn by Wilner and Lada that the NGC 2362 cluster is significantly deficient in low-mass stars, and therefore with their claim that they have found strong evidence that the initial mass function varies on scales of clusters. It is emphasized that the Salpeter mass function with a single power law index is not consistent with observations of low-mass stars in any known environment, and is inappropriate for comparison with data searching for possible variations of the low-mass initial mass function.