Journal of Proceedings. xlix 



excursion better officered, and the President and Secretary were full of 

 congratulations as they conducted their batch of visitors towards Monk's 

 Woods, the appointed afternoon rendezvous. Alas ! just as we entered 

 the broad shadow of the trees, down came the rain, sullenly and remorse- 

 lessly. In vain did we shelter ourselves, '^ sub tegminc fagi," making 

 occasional sallies into the open to secure some particularly large or 

 fascinating Fungus. We soon became uncomfortably moist, and when 

 Mr. Smith's and Mr. English's parties appeared, crossing a sedgy wood 

 opening, and looking if possible even wetter than ourselves, we, after a 

 brief consultation, adopted the advice of the " weteyans," and struck 

 the woodland path across the valley to the " Forester's Arms." Just 

 outside the woods we met the last arrivals from the station, and the 

 united parties fled before the pitiless tempest. A short lull in the storm 

 tempted us to make another incursion to the woods, but we could not 

 get far. However, we found Dr. Cooke's party loaded with spoils. The 

 genial Doctor's wonderful bag was stocked with type specimens for his 

 Lecture, and one enthusiastic member had converted his umbrella into 

 a temporary vasculum, preferring to bear the rain rather than run the 

 risk of spoiling his pretty Agaricini and Bolcti ; whilst Mr. Grut (the 

 well-known Librarian to the Entomological Society) carried in triumph 

 an immense Boletus edulis, 2 feet 4^ inches in circumference, which he 

 had gathered at High Beach. But the downpour soon forced the 

 botanists back. Just outside the Forest a large specimen of the "Parasol 

 Mushroom " [Agaricus procerus) was noticed, a species of very fine 

 edible qualities. Listening to the chatty reports of the skilled botanists, 

 it was soon evident that in spite of bad weather the afternoon's hunt 

 had proved very successful. Doctors Cooke and Wharton had gathered 

 nearly sixty species, including many rare and remarkable forms, par- 

 ticularly the generally scarce Agaricus ericoeus, which they found com- 

 monly. But their greatest prize was Agaricus udus, a species new to 

 Britain ; this interesting species was found in great plenty, Mr. 

 Worthington Smith also found on dung numerous specimens of Agaricus 

 sphinctrinus , which he took to be new to our flora ; but on this point 

 Doctors differ, and Dr. Cooke informs the writer that the species has 

 been already recorded. Mr. Smith had been busy determining and 

 registering the species met with, and his list extended to more than 

 forty species. Amongst the notable forms recorded by him may be 

 mentioned Agaricus radicosus, growing from the ground on hidden stumps. 

 It has pink gills and mimics the common mushroom, for which it could 

 be easily mistaken, but it is very poisonous and dangerous. Ag. subla- 

 teriteus, a new form of this species with deeply decurrent gills. The 

 orange Chantarelle [Cantharellus cibarius), a pretty species with an 

 odour like apricots, and which is so good when cooked that a botanist 

 once said that a well-prepared dish of it would arrest the pangs of 

 death, was very common in Monk's Woods, and at High Beach. 



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