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THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

 By George Massee, F.L.S. 



{Delivered Felruarij loth, 1901.) 



Next to the Phanerogams, or flowering plants, the Fungi 

 constitute the most extensive group of plants known. Just 

 over 50,000 species are already described, and every year this 

 number is being augmented. We have in Great Britain 5,000 

 species of Fungi, which far exceeds in number that of all our 

 other groups of native plants— Phanerogams, Filices, Musciuae, 

 Algae, Lichens — added together. 



As in every division of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, the 

 primary groups are indicated by one or two prominent morpho- 

 logical features, which are supposed to indicate a common origin, 

 whereas other and unimportant or secondary characters presented 

 by the group are often very varied. In the Agaricineae, a family 

 including some thousands of species, the common bond of union is 

 the presence of gills or thin plates bearing the spores or repro- 

 ductive bodies on their sides. The members of this group are 

 popularly known as toadstools, with the exception of the edible 

 species of our pastures, which is dignified by the name of 

 mushroom. The mushroom-eating public flatter themselves 

 that the only fungus they eat is the ti^lie mushroom {Agaricus 

 campestris). This, however, is far from being the case. Agaricus 

 campestris pure and simple is rarely if ever grown by cultivators, 

 but in its place a variety of this species with a brownish more or 

 less scaly cap, known scientifically as the variety hortensis. The 

 horse mushroom {Agaricus arvensis) is often sold in the London 

 markets as the true mushroom. However, all these are edible, 

 even if lacking in taste and aroma. In this instance '' ignorance 

 is bliss." 



The uses of Fungi are various. As food products, owing to fear 

 of poisoning, with the exception of the kinds mentioned above, 



