250
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
Walthamstow, at n o'clock, and walked up into the part? of the Forest near St.
Peter's Church, and so by "Bull-rush Pond" and "Rushy Plain" to that very
pretty and varied tract of woodland lying west of Woodford, so well-known to
metropolitan insect collectors, as the marks of "sugar" on the tree trunks
abundantly testify. The meeting largely partook of the nature of a demonstra-
tion. Our kind and trusty friend Dr. Cooke again (for the sixteenth season !)
gave his valuable services in determining the larger Fungi, Mr. E. M. Holmes
looked after the Mosses, and Mr. Lister and Miss G. Lister showed practically
the methods of collecting and identifying in the field the remarkable group of
minute Fungi, known as the Mycetozoa ("Slime-Fungi"), which are so intensely
interesting to the microscopist and biologist. Mr. Lister told us that the species
of Mycetozoa had been richly represented in his gatherings in many parts of
the Forest during the autumn. The results of the morning's work amply con-
firmed this statement, as by searching the fallen twigs and leaves, particularly
beneath the holly bushes, no less than thirteen species were found, including
some of considerable rarity, and one, Badhamia rubiginosa, new to Essex, and
which has hitherto been found only in Wales and Bedfordshire. It was gathered
in abundance from under the hollies.
The collecting party gradually worked its way towards Chingford, where the
headquarters for the day were at the Royal Forest Hotel, and where the party
gradually increased in numbers by arrivals from various parts of the county and
from London. Tea was taken about four o'clock, and afterwards the party
adjourned to the large banqueting-room at the hotel, where arrangements had
been made for the exhibition of specimens and for the meeting.
The 164th Ordinary Meeting was then held, the President, Mr. D. Howard,
F.C.S., in the chair.
Mr. D. Finzi was elected a member of the Club.
Dr. Cooke then gave his customary report on the observations of the day. He
remarked that the weather had not been favourable for Fungi during the last
few weeks, owing to the prevalence of night-frosts. About a month before he had,
in an hour-and-a-half's search near the Cuckoo Pits and Fairmead Bottom,
gathered fifty-one species, including one new to the Forest List, Agaricus (Mycena)
indorus, Fr. (Cuckoo Pits, Sept., 1896). That morning they had only found
fifty species, but one was a Fungus also new to the Forest List, viz., Agaricus
(Mycena) pelliculosus, which had been gathered in the Lower Forest. The curious
Cynophallus caninus had been found in the same locality that morning by Mr.
E. M. Holmes. It was a very rare species, but it had occurred before in two
places in the Forest. Another new species gathered that morning was one of the
Discomycetes, Peziza (Lachnella) patula, which he had found on oak leaves, and
amongst the microscopic forms a new one occurred in Leptothyrium medium, Cooke,
which was also present on oak leaves.
The President remarked that they had been obliged to postpone the fungus
meeting to this late season of the year, owing to the extremely bad weather of
September and October, when each succeeding Saturday was worse than the pre-
ceding one. But he thought that few subjects of botanical study offered a greater
variety of phases in the field than the Fungi, owing to the effect of change of
weather on their appearance and development in the open.
Mr. Lister said that he was very glad to have had an opportunity of seeing the
remarkable Cynophallus growing that morning ; he had never before observed the
plant in the Forest, and very seldom indeed anywhere else.