Journal of Proceedings. lxix
they had been again, and found that it was dead ; but it was not till the
8th that, passing that way, he went to look, and finding that it was not
a Pox, brought it home and skinned it, spoiling the skin considerably in
the operation, but it has since been placed in good hands. Spencer is
of opinion that it was a female, and, from the worn appearance of
the teeth, I have no doubt that it was an old one. He says that when
found it had its mouth full of grass, and lay as if it had died a natural
death. There was no appearance of any wound. So far as I can
discover, no other Badger has been seen or heard of in the neighbourhood
for many years, and I should have thought it to have been an extinct
animal. It is difficult to understand how it could have lived, as the
district is not very thinly populated, is almost all under cultivation,
there are no large woods, the Essex hounds have one of their regular
meets within a mile of the spot, and with those of East Essex are
constantly through all the neighbouring covers."—Ed.]
A short conversation took place, during which Mr. Johnston men-
tioned the frequent occurrence of wild-duck on the " Connaught Water "
in the Forest, and Mr. W. Cole said that in the spring he and his
brother had seen a wild duck and her young ones on the pond a little to
the north of the same lake.
Mr. Lister read the following paper, which he illustrated with some
beautiful coloured drawings and diagrams, and also by a number of
specimens of natural deposits of spores on paper :—
Fungi and their Spores.
By Arthur Lister, J.P., F.L.S., &c.
[Abstracted.]
The annual Fungus Forays of the Club in Epping Forest have been so
well supported that most of the members living in the neighbourhood
have become more or less interested in mycology, so that I need not
apologise for occupying a portion of this evening by bringing before
you some matters that have come under my notice in investigating these
curious plants. And I do so with the hope that what I have to say
may serve as some encouragement towards extending the pursuit in this
favoured locality. For apart from the pleasure which the study of
Fungi affords, there is still so much obscurity as to the mode of repro-
duction in most groups, and in the variety of forms which the same
species assumes at different stages of its existence, not to mention their
bearing on the decomposition of organic matter, on fermentation, and
possibly on disease, that they give opportunities for original research
which few branches of natural history so easily within our reach are
able to offer.
Most Fungi are so fugacious, that, notwithstanding the ingenious
method for their preservation which Mr. English has discovered, many
of us must be content only to retain the greater number of species for a
few days, some indeed only for a few hours; so for the modern student
little more can be done than to compare their characters with the
written descriptions, and take such notes as will enable him to recognise
them when they again fall in his way, and so gradually to acquire a
knowledge of their names and classification. For the more ambitious,
however, I think the only satisfactory method of studying Fungi is to
make coloured drawings of them with microscopic details where needed ;