1 88 Rhodora [September 



Perhaps the only justification for offering a note on such a well- 

 known species as Boletus fclleus is the hope that it may emphasize 

 the need of close observation of the variability of common and easily 

 recognized species of fleshy fungi as a basis for the intelligent study 

 of less common forms, the descriptions of which as recorded and fixed 

 in type are often much too rigid and exclusive. — H. Webster, 

 Alstead Centre, New Hampshire. 



Virulence of the Wild Parsnip. — The following note on poi- 

 soning from contact with the juice of the Parsnip {Pastinaca sativa) 

 may prove of interest. The writer was walking with a botany class 

 along a Berkshire roadside, and attracted the attention of a farmer, 

 who after some conversation on the various herbs growing near by, 

 asked whether I knew that the Parsnip, which lined the roadside, 

 was poisonous to handle. I replied in the negative, and shortly after 

 when the farmer had left us, expressed my disbelief in the poisonous 

 qualities attributed to the plant. To prove its innocence I broke off 

 a stalk, let the juice collect and rubbed it hard across my wrist. 

 During the rest of the walk nothing developed, and I thought that I 

 had proved my case. Over night, however, a blister developed on 

 the spot, preceded, I believe, by irritation, though of this latter point, I 

 am not certain. The blister became large and did not subside for 

 several days. After an interval of six years, a dark line on the wrist 

 still serves to attest the truth of the farmer's observation. — Ralph 

 Hoffmann, Alstead Centre, New Hampshire. 



Annual Meeting of the Josselyn Society. — The Annual 

 Meeting and Field Day of the Josselyn Botanical Society of Maine 

 was held at Machias, July 8-1 1 inclusive, and proved a most suc- 

 cessful and profitable season. 



The days were spent in the field, the evenings with receptions, 

 business meetings, and lectures. Merritt Lyndon Fernald talked on 

 The Flowering Plants of the Maine Coast, describing the coast-line, 

 the direction of the prevailing winds, and the effect upon the flora of 

 the coast, explaining the geographic origin of our flora, and illustrat- 

 ing with characteristic plants of the extreme portions of the coast of 

 Maine. Frank Shipley Collins spoke on The Sea Weeds of New 



