PREFACE.
The matter in this little volume was delivered in the form
of two Presidential Addresses before the thirty-sixth and thirty-
seventh Annual Meetings of the Essex Field Club, held on 31
March 1917 and 6 April 1918 respectively. They are now
combined and reprinted, with certain additions and corrections,
from " The Essex Naturalist," vol. xviii., pp. 207-237, and 301-
321, and issued as a " Special Memoir " of the Club.
The County of Essex, and more especially Epping Forest,
has long been a favourite hunting-ground for students of the
Mycetozoa. A series of notes recording the species seen on the
occasions of the Annual Fungus and Cryptogamic Forays of the
Club has appeared from time to time in " The Essex Naturalist,"
but no complete list of the species hitherto found in the county
has yet been published.
In the following pages, I have drawn up such a list, accom-
panied by descriptive notes. By way of introduction, I have
prefixed a short history of the study of Mycetozoa in Britain,
to give an idea of how long the subject has received attention
in this country and to whom we are indebted for the present
state of our knowledge.
Further, I have added some remarks on the haunts or
habitats in which the Mycetozoa are generally found.
My cordial thanks are due to the many friends and
correspondents who have given me assistance by allowing me
to take advantage of their observations and experience. I am
especially indebted to Mr. Cran and Mr. Minakata, for allowing
me to make use of their notes on arboreal Mycetozoa.
G. L.
Leytonstone
September, 1918.